Explores tensions between universalistic and relativistic approaches in the establishment of standards and strategies designed to prevent or overcome the abuse of children's capacity to work. Tensions are discussed within the context of the International Labour Office's proposed new international convention on the prohibition and elimination of…

Details part of a larger project undertaken by Swedish Save the Children in order to inform the current debate about child labor with evidence from working children engaged in a range of occupations, in contrasting regions of the world. Summarizes issues, children's occupational preferences, and views on work and school. (SD)

Discusses children's rights and the UN (United Nations) Convention on the Rights of the Child. Examines trends that relate to three rights of children (access to education, children and violence, and child health) and evidence of progress in establishing each right. Provides two model units that are linked to the NCSS (National Council for the…

Several factors are eroding children's right to play. The first is continuing poverty throughout the world. This factor is evident in underdeveloped countries and the inner cities of industrialized countries. Changing cultural values are a second factor in developed societies where indifference toward the importance of play is prevalent. The many…

Presents an overview of the situation of street children and youth in urban Latin America. Findings from numerous studies throughout the region are synthesized. Suggests that economic factors underlie the marginalization of vast numbers of Latin American children. The result is the exclusion of many of the region's children from meaningful…

These five newsletter issues communicate activities of the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN) and report on information resources and world-wide activities concerning children and child rights. The March 2000 issue focuses on children's right to education, assessing the matter form a range of differing perspectives, at international and…

Child labor in Latin America is discussed in terms of its history and social and economic conditions. Relationships between children and adults and new social policies that effect child labor in Latin America are considered. (BC)

Provides an overview of the role of Portuguese child laborers, focusing on the textile, clothing, and footwear industries. Argues that in the long term, positive outcomes will be based upon improved education; an alteration in the views of the factory owners, parents, and their children; and greater knowledge of innovative working practices among…

Explores contributions from the Urban Childhood Conference for the purpose of developing the child-labor discourse further and indicating the implications of the new understandings for further research and policy development. Highlights the nine articles in this issue, which address child labor at the international level, children's viewpoints,…

Draws on increased international debate and concern about child labor to provide an overview of important apparent trends. Issues addressed include diversity of thinking, variety of work situations, effects on children involved, and traditional modes of action against child labor. Notes that traditional actions are ineffective and that ending the…

In an effort to stimulate discussion and provide a tool for policymakers and practitioners in developing effective child-centered programs that protect children from hazardous and exploitative labor, this paper examines ways in which work can contribute to, as well as harm, children's development; it also aims to provide a conceptual framework for…

Traces the growing concern and sporadic efforts to address problems of exploitation, education, and neglect among child performers in turn-of-the-century England. Victorian social reformers and the press made the working conditions of English theater children a public issue. True reform, however, only occurred later. (MJP)

Examines possible solutions for improving the status of children in India. Suggests that there is a need to focus on child rights issues related to public awareness, attitudinal change, political commitment, mass sensitization, and outreach. Suggests an appropriate strategy for the restoration of the rights of children in India. (AA)

Discusses the problems faced by street and working children in Brazil, problems often exacerbated by the educational system. Describes how grass-roots activism led to enactment of an exceptional progressive law protecting children's rights. Examines the failure of technical rationality as the foundation of mainstream educational planning. (SV)

This review examines refractions of children's rights in development practice from an anthropological point of view and considers the case of young domestic girls working in Abidjan. The author argues that child labour legislation and the children's rights perspective in Abidjan is permeated by patriarchal values that mask the exploitation of work…