In this introduction to the special issue on children’s participation, Cahill and Hart address issues raised by the collected papers and identify new questions for further engagement, rather than offer a general overview of the field. These questions include What is the context for participation? What does it mean to “participate”? Why have children been excluded from the current discourses on young people’s civic participation? What is the role of ideology in youth participation programs? What roles do young people play in their communities? And, finally, the overarching question that structures our discussion: What lessons can we learn about participation from an understanding of the everyday lives of young people?
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Title: Re-Thinking the Boundaries of Civic Participation by Children and Youth in North America
Author(s): Caitlin Cahill, Roger Hart
Publication Date: 2007
Publisher: Children, Youth and Environments