Jonathan Hudson, aged 14, reports on the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Children in Geneva.
| I was surprised to find I was one of just three young people among hundreds of adult delegates. |
Young people need a voice. They are forgotten about and seldom taken seriously. This is something I strongly believe in and why I am a children's rights campaigner.
I have recently returned from Geneva where I attended the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Children. I was surprised to find I was one of just three young people among hundreds of adult delegates.
The conference met to discuss violence towards children in the home and at school, and while I was there I told the committee how young people should be consulted about policies that affect them and how they should be able to make the decisions themselves.
One area which is particularly important is efforts to stamp out school bullying. What is the point of making an anti-bullying strategy without talking to the people who are bullied?
I was pleased that I was able to talk to the committee and that they took what I said seriously. My views have been recorded.
Nevertheless my voice was just one of many heard at the conference, and all of these views will be put to the committee and discussed. They might even make a difference to the recommendations made to countries by the UN.
I initially became involved with supporting children's rights by writing an article about the need for a children's rights commissioner for Children's Express, a programme of learning through journalism for young people.
Children's Express has a bureau at Bournville School, Birmingham, where I am a year ten pupil. I was then lucky enough to get involved in another charity, Article 12, which promotes children's rights.
I heard about this organisation while at an event where I was representing Children's Express.
I felt proud and privileged to go to such a major international event and to represent Article 12 and young people from not just Birmingham, not just the UK, but the whole world.
To my surprise, I found that while I was there a huge responsibility rested on my shoulders.
But I relished the opportunity and was amazed that some of the adults there were more nervous than me.
Even though the conference was a great success, I was disappointed that at such an important event, which had a real chance of making a difference to young people, only three of them had been invited.
This demonstrates how far the world needs to go to take young people seriously and to consult them regularly on anything that affects their lives.
I hope that other young people will find similar opportunities to make their voice heard and shout as loud as they can.
About the team
This article was written by Jonathan Hudson. It was published in the Birmingham Post.
