Now, as for the contents of the UN Convention on the Rights of Children, there is little that I disagree with. I was extremely lucky to grow up where I did and with what I had. I often think of how lucky I was I was born into a country that is stable, safe and offers me all the benefits of growing up in Canada, and how unfair it seems that some children are born into war, or extremism. I instantly agree with the idea that a child should have the opportunity to live in a safe environment, and have life essentials available. What really struck me was that 1 in 7 children still live in poverty in Canada (shown here), that also means a possible dangerous environment, as poorer areas can be higher in crime (and I am NOT saying poverty breeds crime, there are many factors to crime and generalizations are not useful) and the child can be lacking in nutrition/housing. I would love if every child could grow up happy, playing sports and not have to worry about life until they are older, worrying sucks and should be reserved for adults. Also, let us not forget about teenagers, as they are considered in this as well, they absolutely fall under the conventions parameters. I recently found out that child services does not help children older than 16, but you are not an adult till 18. How does that make any sense, if you need to leave an abusive household, or are on your own, you can't rent an apartment as you are not an adult. This is something that I think is covered by the safe environment aspect of the convention.
The other aspect of the convention I find interesting is the idea of listening to our children, Mitchell calls them our Silenced Citizens. Admittedly at first I thought this was silly, I mentioned asking a 6 year old if he wanted education reform and how obtuse that would be. However on further thought it makes sense to talk to them. You don't need clear concise well spoken answers, you just need to listen. If the kids say they are bored, then maybe the kids are bored, novel concept eh? Extending this, talking to adolescents makes all the sense in the world, I was teen not all that long ago (I like to say) and I would have LOVED to be asked my opinion on school or how it is structured. Obviously you will get snarky answers and likely get some junk, but I think that it is easily sifted through. Mitchell mentioned a program that was voluntary (with pay though) to get teens interested in talking about the system. This is a brilliant idea, you are likely to get people who care, which will hopefully generate good data and you pay them which shows (in less than symbolic way) that it pays to care.
All in all I think Mitchell is very intelligent and has a noble cause, I have all the best wishes for him and hope he can achieve his goal one day, even if I think it tough.