Children Should Be Seen and Heard? Children and Young People’s Participation in the UK

Abstract

In their 2003 text book chapter, Kirby and Woodhead encourage readers to (re)consider their ideas about childhood by listing various proverbs. Some proverbs value children as a societal investment, such as ‘Children are the wealth of the nation’ (Tanzania), ‘It is the young trees that make the forest thick’ (Uganda) or ‘Educate the children so you will not have to punish the men’ (Brazil). Other proverbs take a developmental, disciplinary approach like ‘A tree should be bent while it is still young’ (South Africa) or ‘When a child knows how to wash his hands he eats with his elders’ (Ghana). The UK proverb does not even provide these levels of recognition; the proverb attributed to the UK is that ‘Children should be seen and not heard’.