Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989, hereinafter UNCRC) anchored children’s rights to participate in decision making. Over the years, countries developed legislation, policies, and methodologies to promote the implementation of Article 12 in various domains (UNCRC Committee, 2009, para. 3). There are also numerous studies on children’s participation rights and student voice. However, few of these studies included a systematic inquiry into the limits of children’s participation rights, and none of them focused on these limits.

Several scholars argued that the promotion of children’s participation has become a ‘moral crusade’ (Lewis, 2010, p. 15), a taken-for-granted ‘mantra’ (Tisdall & Punch, 2012, pp. 251, 254). Consequently, scholars argued, criticism was muted (Lewis, 2010), and key concepts remained fixed and static, unscrutinized, and unproblematized (Tisdall & Punch, 2012; see also Lundy, 2018). Parallel critiques were propounded with regard to the lack of linkages between children’s participation rights and other rights (Lundy, 2007; Nolas, 2015). One of the reasons for this uncritical approach is socio-historical. James (2007), in comparing childhood studies with women’s studies and racial and ethnic studies, contended that the acknowledged need to raise the profile of the study of children explains the absence of much critical reflection on the use of children’s voices. A proximate reason relates to the contentions that researchers working with children’s rights issues are neither neutral nor distanced from their object of study (Quennerstedt, 2013). This paper aims to fill this gap. It delineates the scope and limits of the right to participation in education and analyzes the intersections between pupils’ participation rights and other human rights and social interests.

Human rights, including children’s rights, are always interdependent, interconnected, and indivisible (United Nations, n.d.). Children’s participation rights in education interact with other rights in several directions. Firstly, various rights constitute preconditions for the fulfillment of children’s participation rights. Children cannot participate if they feel insecure or discriminated against (Burger, 2017). Secondly, participation rights may promote the fulfillment of other rights. Participation mobilizes civil and political rights as it develops democratic skills, fosters autonomy, and encourages future civic engagement (Jiang, Kosher, Ben-Arieh, & Huebner, 2014). Participation also serves children’s best interests as it contributes to more accurate and relevant decisions in school, improves school climate, and increases pupils’ sense of belonging (Mitra & Gross, 2009; Smith, 2007). Thirdly, and this is the focus of the current study, participation may limit other rights. Lundy’s model of participation (2007) conceptualized four key elements of participation - Space, Voice, Audience and Influence – and emphasisezd that Article 12 can only be understood fully when it is considered in the light of other relevant UNCRC rights. This paper extends Lundy’s discussion as to the adequate limits of children’s participation and focuses on the interactions of children’s participation with other rights, as well as with social interests.

The paper complements models that have conceptualized children’s participation rights (e.g., Herbots & Put, 2015; Gal, 2017; Lundy, 2007), or the role of adults within youth-adult partnerships (Richards-Schuster & Timmermans, 2017). It also corresponds to studies that conceptualized pupil participation or pupil voice (e.g., Gillett-Swan & Sargeant, 2018; Mitra & Gross, 2009; Quennerstedt, 2011; Smith, 2007). Thus, the current investigation may have relevance for various audiences interested in a deeper understanding of children’s participation rights and their limits, particularly in the education domain. Some of the paper’s conclusions may have relevance for children’s participation rights in other contexts as well, such as policymaking, divorce proceedings, protection services, or criminal justice systems.

The paper is a based on a review and analysis of empirical studies that examined various contexts of pupils’ participation rights. The findings of these studies comprise a basis for a legal analysis of the conflicts between participation rights and other rights and social interests. The literature is analyzed according to five themes, representing the various conflicts identified in the literature between participation rights and other rights and social interests. The first section addresses children’s right not to participate and adults’ obligation to attend to the sound of silence. The second section analyzes the possible impact of children’s participation on children’s right to non-discrimination that may result from conflicts of interests between children, the tendency to label non-participating children as deviant, or adult favoritism. The third section focuses on cases emphasizing how children’s participation may derogate the rights of others to protection from violence and abuse, such as children’s offensive expressions. It also addresses peer mediation in cases of bullying. The fourth section decries a one-size-fits-all model of participation that ignores cultural rights of children and parents. The fifth section exemplifies how children’s participation may harm social interests by analyzing the possible influence of pupil perception surveys on teacher demoralization. The final (sixth) section integrates the previous sections. It presents a model that conceptualizes the limits of children’s participation rights in education and the interaction of these rights with other children’s rights, parental rights, teachers’ rights, and social interests.

The model developed in the paper summarizes the limits of children’s participation rights in education. It shows that children’s participation rights in education may constrain various other children’s rights: the right not to participate (UNCRC, Article 12), not to be discriminated against (UNCRC, Article 2), to be protected from violence and abuse (UNCRC, Article 19), and to receive education that is adapted to their circles of cultural affiliations (UNCRC, Articles 29(1)(c), 30). In addition, children are entitled to receive their parents’ direction and guidance in the exercise of their rights (UNCRC, Article 5). The model also shows that children’s participation rights in education may limit parental rights to autonomy and culture, teachers’ rights to protection from violence and abuse, and the social interest to empower teachers. This social interest is intertwined with children’s best interest (UNCRC, Article 3). Developing various understandings of children’s participation in education may mitigate most conflicts described in the paper. For example, various mechanisms may guarantee inclusiveness, such as foregoing elections to participatory frameworks, and implementing diverse modes of communication adapted to different barriers. An additional tool for mitigating conflicts may be culturally responsive participation pedagogies that establish bridges between the human rights discourse and religious or cultural norms. However, other conflicts, such as those brought upon by pupils’ offensive expressions or pupil perception surveys, require careful consideration in striving for an adequate balance between the clashing rights and interests. The model proposed in this paper may prompt the robust research on children’s participation rights to attend more systematically to the possible ramifications of these rights. Moreover, delineating the adequate scope and limits of participation rights may facilitate facing parental and teacher resistance and educate children for a better understanding of the interface of their own rights and the rights of others.

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