Clémentine Beauvais - Professor of Education
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Clémentine Beauvais is a Professor of Education at the University of York (UK).
She is an academic, children’s rights advocate and the author of books for both young people and adults.
What next?
Have a go at Clémentine’s challenge.
See what Clémentine has to say about children’s rights and young people’s voices in democracy.
If you could meet Clémentine, what would you ask her about young people having a say in decisions that affect them?
Let us know in the comments below.
Comments (13)
Hi I’m from England if I could meet clementine I would ask her to tell me more about elections for 16 year olds improves
How do you help young children to be in courage to vote in places? How do you show what to do if you are not sure if it is true or not? How can we vote as children and adults in global activities?
Great questions!
Great questions!
please if ,I could meet miss clementine, my question for her be that, the voting that she is talking about is for all the children( 1-adulthood) or children at a certain age like16 or 18 and above.
I strongly disagree as children only gain consciousness when they are about 5, and plus it would take about 16 years of maturing to understand anyway. As childrens’ brains aren’t fully developed, they 100% shouldn’t have the right to vote from birth. I find it disappointing to even see someone suggest this, especially considering that this woman is a teacher (I think).
Bad things-
1. Children don’t understand a lot and wouldn’t even be able to read the voting options.
2. Their brains aren’t developed and don’t have the capacity or knowledge for such a deep thing.
Good things (if I have to)-
1. The news and the prime ministers/presidents affect children just as much as they affect older people.
2. They get a say in what happens around them.
I still VERY strongly disagree, but thank you for listening.
If I met Clémentine, I would tell her that I loved her topic and thoughts so much but there are so many endless questions coming to my mind. Here are some of them...
When did you first start arguing that people should be allowed to vote from birth?
Did anyone encourage you to speak for your opinion?
Have you ever been bullied or treated badly because of what you believe?
Which specific situation made you realize that everyone should have the right to vote from birth?
Have you ever felt like giving up when people disagreed with you?
Do you have children? If yes, do you let them help make decisions about things at home?
I really wish I could meet her in reality to tell her my thoughts!!!
1-How can we ensure that a child's voice in democracy is treated as a fundamental right rather than a symbolic gesture by adults?
2-What is the most effective way to protectchildren's political autonomy from being influenced or 'colonized' by parental views?
Why don't we suggest that we may have child politicians then since their voices and interests are only with them and they have more expertise in this fireld?
ANother question,is having expertise in childhood enough to help making decisions related to their community? How can we make sure that they are not misled or misuided?
If the chilrden can vote becuase they want to a prerequisite for them to do what they want since they are experts even if the adults know it is wrong or dangerous?
If you were a president, will you make elections from birth and for everyone?
As you said that elections should begin from birth, but how can a 1 or 2-year-old person vote in the elections?
When you were young, did you have the democracy to say your opinion on the social media about elections?
Also, when you were young, did you want to change a problem or situation in your country, but you were prevented from talking and spreading your ideas and solutions?
If I had the chance to meet Clementine I would ask her the following questions:
1- How can young people have a real say in decisions that affect their future, even before they are old enough to vote?
2- What is the biggest challenge in making governments and adults take children's opinions seriously?
3- Do you think schools do enough to teach students about democracy and political participation? why or why not?
4- What advice would you give to teenagers who want their voices to be hear in society and politics?
Were you inspired by roald dahl?
Was the reason that made you an author for books is reading a lot kof books?
What made your career so successful?
Did you face people who didn't support you? If yes, how did you face them?
Hello Professor Clémentine, my questions if I met you would be:
1- How can we ensure that all the children have their basic rights and the international system is not failing them?
2-Do you think that if children have the right to vote, would they be able to drive any changes in the global system?
If I met Miss Clementine,I would ask her to tell me about why are young children called minority and how can I as a child help in the improvement of children's rights.
I think Clémentine was the one that made me think the most because although at first I completely disagreed with her, she explained her point of view in a way that even I could change my mind. She truly made me reflect and question what I thought and changed it, not completely, but enough to make me understand how listening to other perspectives will always make you learn. I would ask her what will happen if parents lead their children to a certain vote for political success, because I think that's the main reason why letting everyone vote wouldn't be beneficial for the country.
This because kids could be easily manipulated and this wouldn't just be one step back in democracy, it would put them in danger. However, I do believe making them feel part of the process will be great for them but it's complicated to implement in a safe way in real life.
To sum up, I really liked listening to her because of how different it is from how I think and I would like to know how she would answer that question and if she could make me change my mind. Furthermore, I believe she has very interesting ideas that we all enjoyed listening to and which we learnt a lot from.