Chapter 9 FIGHTING FOR YOUR RIGHTS

It Doesn’t Necessarily Have to Be This Way

Limits on the rights of youth are such a normal part of life that it may seem as if no one would ever see a reason to change them. But history suggests that this need not be so. Young people, in Canada as in many other places, used to have even fewer rights than they have today, as we have shown in previous chapters. Laws are changed from time to time, and this happens partly because people who care about something become convinced that existing laws are unfair. While, in many countries, the law cares much less about the rights of youth than it does in Canada, there are also a few places in the world that care more about their rights than our society does, and this can be seen in some of their laws. Take Norway, for instance. Here are some of the important rules in Norway’s Children Act:

• According to section 30 of this law, the child “is entitled to care and consideration” from his or her parents and “must not be subjected to violence or in any other way be treated so as to harm or endanger his or her mental or physical health. This shall also apply when violence is carried out in connection with the child’s upbringing. Use of violence and frightening or annoying behaviour or other inconsiderate conduct towards the child is prohibited.” Among other things, this means that any form of corporal punishment is forbidden.

• Section 31 of the Children Act gives parents and others involved with the child the duty to listen to the child’s opinions regarding decisions that affect him or her and to take those opinions into account, especially from the time the child reaches the age of 7. From the age of 12, the child’s opinions should carry significant weight.

• Nor is parental authority absolute. According to section 33, parents “shall steadily extend the child’s right to make his or her own decisions as he or she gets older and until he or she reaches the age of 18.” Specifically, section 32 says that young people aged 15 and over “shall themselves decide the question of choice of education and of applying for membership of or resigning from associations.” This provision recognizes that older children are ready to pursue their own interests and have their own ideas.

Norway’s Children Act gives the country’s young people significant rights that are also entirely within reason. Above all, it treats children and youth like independent individuals, as opposed to parents’ possessions, and it views them as capable, rather than as incompetent. Why can’t we incorporate similar rights into Canada’s laws? We can if enough people are interested in doing so and can persuade enough politicians (the people who write bills and pass them into law) that children deserve more respect than they generally get.

Whatever rules you want changed, they will not change on their own: it will take work. If you want rights, you need to be ready to fight for them. So what are some of the things you can do?

Get Organized

To be honest, you are unlikely to change anything on your own. A lone voice is usually not enough to convince lawmakers that something needs to change. What’s required is interest and encouragement from the public. When a lot of people stand up and make their voices heard together, politicians will usually listen. So if you want lawmakers to take a serious interest in giving youth more legal rights, you need to connect with other young people who want to work for the same cause and, if possible, find some adults who want to help. To learn how to form an organization to promote your goals, you can begin by finding out about other activists and special interest groups and look at what they do and how they talk, write, and behave. In other words, you don’t have to start from scratch.

Talk to Others

Before going public with your ideas, think of what you can do to influence the people right around you. First of all, try talking about your legal rights with your brothers and sisters, friends, schoolmates, and other people you know who are about your age. You can share what you have learned from this book and make them aware of what rights the law gives youth and what rights it denies them. This sharing of information can lead to an exchange of opinions and ideas with other young people about what rights you should have. Finally, you can encourage them to join you in working for children’s and youth rights.

Eventually, you may want to start sharing your ideas with adults. Even if you do not feel comfortable doing so right away, sooner or later, your parents and other adults close to you will likely figure out that you’re interested in youth rights. Their initial reaction to your opinions and activities may be good or bad, but you will be more likely to be taken seriously if you stick to the following principles:

• You show that you appreciate the adults in your life and that your opinions are not meant to insult them.

• You show that you have thought about your ideas and are committed to them.

• You are prepared with strong arguments.

• You speak calmly and respectfully.

• You are willing to listen to opposite arguments and be polite when arguing against them.

At some point, you may wish to try to convince your parents that you are entitled to more rights and that they should give you more freedom. In this case, you’ll need to step carefully. It is difficult to change the opinions of adults about their way of raising their children and easy to make them angry by challenging their authority as parents. Therefore, not only should you be well prepared, but you should also start any conversations about this topic positively, politely, and diplomatically. Try to choose a moment for starting the discussion when both you and your parents are calm and in a good mood, and do so in such a way that it doesn’t seem like you’re looking for an argument. You could, for instance, say that you appreciate your parents’ efforts in raising you but are not happy with some of their restrictions, and while you realize they have your own good in mind, you would like them to listen to your opinions as to why you deserve to be more in control of your own choices.

If you do decide to begin such a conversation, you will want to be ready with strong arguments and be able to present them well to your parents. We’d also suggest that, before you try raising this subject at home, you ask some of your friends whether they’ve had such discussions with their parents and, if so, what they said that their parents found convincing. We hope that your arguments will be successful, but be prepared for your parents not to have much sympathy for your desire for more rights. Although adults were all children themselves once, many of them lose touch with their childhood and the feelings they had at the time. Even if they remember how they felt when they were young, they often see things from an adults-are-right point of view, and many of them also feel entitled to the authority they have. If you speak politely, seriously, and without raising your voice, you will increase the chances that your parents will listen to you, and if you have good, mature arguments, they just might be willing to consider your opinions. Perhaps you may even have some suggestions about how this change could benefit your parents as well as yourself.

Unfortunately, not all parents are willing to listen to arguments from their children that challenge their own views. You will know whether your parents are generally willing to talk with you about your opinions or whether they’re likely to resist your efforts to have a discussion. If you do talk to them about your rights and freedoms and they get angry at you for disagreeing with their rules or opinions, try to stay calm. As long as you are calm and polite, you have good grounds for asking your parents simply to allow you to express your opinion and to listen to what you’re saying. It might also help to gently remind your parents that they probably had arguments with their own parents and probably felt unhappy if they weren’t even allowed to say what they thought.

Meanwhile, remember that actions speak louder than words. Your parents—and other adults—may take your ideas more seriously if you show that, besides asking for rights, you are willing to be a good citizen and accept responsibility. In a conversation about making your own decisions, it might be very helpful if you are able to truthfully point out all the ways in which you already act responsibly. Perhaps you could remind them that you attend school regularly, or that you do your homework and try to get good grades in school; perhaps you have chores at home that you carry out in a responsible and trustworthy manner; perhaps you are reliably respectful and considerate of others. If you can show evidence of your maturity, this may help your parents take you seriously when you explain that you are not happy that, on one hand, you are expected to fulfill certain responsibilities, while, on the other hand, no one seems to be interested in letting you take more responsibility for your own choices.

Hopefully, you will be able to convince your parents or other adults you talk with to see things at least partly your way. Yet, despite your best efforts, you may not succeed, and in some cases you may not even manage to get them to listen to you. If this happens, you’d do well to back off and try to avoid further conflict—but don’t let their anger and disapproval discourage you from having your own opinions or from being a youth rights activist.

Write

It’s a good idea to get into the habit of writing about your ideas and the reasons behind them. If you are able to write convincing articles and essays, you can spread your ideas in many ways. For example, you can publish what you write in school newspapers, on websites, or as letters to the editor of a newspaper. Eventually, your writing might be read by important people who have influence in government, organizations, or the community and who can change things. Perhaps one day you will even publish a book.

Just like speaking about your ideas, writing effectively about your ideas requires that you have strong arguments to back them up. We suggest you try to get ideas both for what you will write about and how you will write it by reading what other people have written in support of children’s and youth rights or in support of other civil rights, such as racial equality or women’s rights. In order to sharpen your writing and persuasive skills, read good essays and use the opportunities you have at school to learn to write effective arguments.¹

As you read examples of persuasive writing, you will learn ways of writing that can make a good impression on your reader. One thing to keep in mind about effective writing is the importance of adapting your writing style to your audience. If you write for other young people, you might choose to write in a lively, conversational style, whereas if you write to a politician, your style might be relatively serious and formal. When you write someone a formal letter or similar text, you should make sure you write politely and without showing angry emotions too strongly. For example, suppose it really bothers you that some schools make students wear uniforms, instead of letting them choose their own clothing. Here’s an example of the sort of letter you might write to your provincial government:

The Honourable Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education

5th Floor

438 University Ave.

Toronto, ON

M5G 2K8

June 1, 2023

Dear Minister,

I am writing to you with a request to consider introducing an amendment to the Education Act, section 302(5) of which allows boards of education to make policies regarding “appropriate dress” in schools. As it stands, this section enables schools to require students to wear uniforms. In my opinion, school uniforms are an unwarranted infringement on students’ liberty, and the arguments in favour of them are misguided. I would therefore ask you to take the initiative to have section 302(5) repealed.

Whatever reasons may be given for introducing school uniforms, there is no denying that they infringe on students’ personal freedom and that they will therefore make many of them unhappy and resentful. Young people want to have choices like everybody else, especially on such personal matters as how they dress. If their freedom to choose their own clothing is to be restricted, there should be substantial reasons for doing so.

Some of those who favour school uniforms argue that they help to promote order and discipline. In the United States, especially, school uniforms have become an increasingly popular approach to issues surrounding violence and other disruptive behaviour. And yet, despite a number of research studies, no conclusive evidence exists to support the contention that uniforms actually do improve school discipline. Disciplinary problems occur in all schools, regardless of what students wear. Many factors contribute to such problems, and the idea that the solution lies simply in a change of clothing seems at best naïve. Proponents of school uniforms also claim that a strict dress code prevents young people from wearing clothing that is in some way provocative, which distracts them from their studies. At least in my experience, though, if students pay attention to each other’s clothes, it is during breaks, not in class—and, in any case, life is full of potential distractions. Moreover, one suspects that it is teachers, not students, who find such attire distracting. Young people are in the process of defining who they are, and clothing is one of many ways in which people express their self-identity. I see no reason to deny students this opportunity.

Another popular argument in favour of school uniforms is that they put both wealthy and poor students on an equal level and head off the possibility that relatively affluent students will tease classmates whose parents cannot afford to buy them expensive or trendy clothes. Such teasing may indeed happen at times, but this seems an inadequate reason to limit students’ freedom of dress. When I was a student, I would far rather have dealt with my peers’ criticism of my clothing than have adults “solve” the problem by telling me and everyone else how to dress. In fact, I would argue that this solution is actually counterproductive, in that it attempts to shield students from unpleasant experiences. Learning how to deal constructively with social differences prepares young people for the adult world, where inequalities between people do exist and are not artificially suppressed.

School uniforms can be counterproductive in another way as well. By insisting on regulating their appearance, authorities are giving young people yet another reason to dislike school. Strict rules increase the likelihood that students will learn to resent adult authority and may well result in rebellion against the offending rule—thereby obliging teachers to waste time enforcing it. In other words, demanding that students wear uniforms merely creates a new issue with regard to discipline.

In short, it is difficult to find a reasonable justification for school uniforms. Indeed, I would argue that the wearing of uniforms satisfies adult needs more than it benefits students. School uniforms have traditionally been associated with upscale private schools: they were markers of privilege. Today, they seem to have become a form of branding—a way for schools to set themselves apart from other schools as something “special,” as if parents now feel that sending their child to an ordinary public school just isn’t good enough. This is the opposite of the spirit of equality on which public education was founded. I therefore ask that you consider making efforts to repeal section 302(5) of the Education Act. By doing so, your government will demonstrate its commitment not only to equity but to the rights of young people to be independent human beings.

I hope you will take my views into consideration.

Sincerely,

Ned Lecic

Use the Internet

If you wish to advocate for youth rights, consider creating a website. In fact, if you form a children’s and youth rights organization, a website is a must. But you could also create your own blog, complete with FAQ pages and external links. Then you’ll need to use social media to direct traffic to your website. Get active on Twitter and create a Facebook page, with a link to your website, and update it regularly with brief but interesting posts. You can also make creative use of Instagram.

Your website should be well designed and the material on it accurate and well written. If you don’t have a lot of visual talent, perhaps you know someone who does. Above all, have a good, critical look at other websites that promote human and civil rights.² What do you like about them, and what don’t you like? Is the information they provide clear and useful? What makes you want to stay on a site, and what do you find irritating? When it comes to websites, examples are probably the best teachers.

Talk to Lawmakers and Get Involved in the Community

One way to change laws is to deal directly with those who make them. Anyone can telephone or write a letter or an e-mail to a member of Parliament, a member of the provincial legislature, or a town or band councillor. You can also arrange to meet with one of these lawmakers so that you can share your thoughts about how the law treats youth and ask for his or her support in getting a law changed. In this case, before you set up an appointment, think about which level of government makes laws about the issue you wish to discuss. MPs deal with federal laws (such as the Youth Criminal Justice Act or the Cannabis Act), MLAs make laws about provincial or territorial matters such as education and family law, and city or band councillors deal with local policies such as curfews. Although it’s usual to talk to the MP or MLA in your own electoral district, if you’ve heard or read about a politician who seems interested in the rights and interests of young people or has a history of supporting causes similar to your own, then get in touch with that person.

Political officials tend to be busy people, so you need to be respectful of their time. If you meet with one of them, you should be clear about what you are asking them to do and be well prepared with good arguments to back up your request. It would also be helpful to have some sort of evidence (such as a letter of support from an adult—that is, someone old enough to vote) that other people agree with your position. Bear in mind as well that lawmakers tend to be conservative: rarely are they willing to consider extreme changes. So you will have a better chance of success—at least in the long run—if you are realistic in what you ask for. For example, you might just be able to convince an MP to support the idea that 16-year-olds should be allowed to vote, but no politician today is likely to favour abolishing the voting age altogether.

It would be nice if the person with whom you’ve met immediately showed an interest in changing the law. But don’t be surprised when this doesn’t happen. A lot of lobbying will no doubt be required to change social attitudes and convince politicians that youth deserve to have more rights and to be allowed more responsibility than the law presently gives them. But even if, on your first try, a lawmaker seems to dismiss your ideas, at least he or she will have learned that you’re not happy with the rights you currently have. If more and more young people complain about their lack of rights, eventually lawmakers will begin to listen. After all, if nothing else, today’s young people are tomorrow’s voters.

Finally, it’s always a good idea to find out about what is going on in your city or community and what issues are important at the moment. Sometimes, when a government is considering a new law or an amendment to an existing one, it holds a public consultation so that people can voice their opinions on the proposed legislation before it is passed. Even if the law in question doesn’t particularly relate to issues that you are concerned about, participating in public consultations is a great way to get a sense of how government works, and it also gives you experience in expressing your views. Becoming an active member of a local association may likewise help you to gain recognition in your community. If you live in a big city, you might want to start by focusing on your local electoral district or even just on the neighbourhood where you live. That makes it a lot easier to build relationships and exert some influence on those in power.

Write Petitions

The greater the number of people who support a change in the law, the more likely it is that lawmakers will pay attention. There’s nothing wrong with talking to politicians or writing letters to them yourself, but drawing up a petition and getting people to sign it is a powerful way to show that an idea has broad public support. In a petition, you write an opening statement that clearly describes what law you want changed, followed by a brief, well-written explanation of why this change needs to be made and what it would accomplish. You then “circulate” the petition: you show it to as many people as possible and ask whether they’d be willing to sign it. Be prepared to explain more about the issue underlying the petition and to answer questions that people may have. If they agree to sign the petition, they simply write their name and address and then their signature on a line under the letter.

Once you’ve collected as many names as you think you can get, you send the petition to a senior member of government. Depending on the law in question, this could be the prime minister, the premier of the province or territory in which you live, or your city or town mayor. But it’s often even better to send the petition directly to the government minister whose department is responsible for administering the law that you’re trying to have changed. For example, if you live in British Columbia and are hoping to change a rule in the BC School Act, send your petition to the BC Minister of Education. If you live in Québec and are seeking an amendment to one of the articles in the Civil Code about parental authority, then send your petition to Québec’s Ministers of Families and of Justice. If you’re trying to get the Canada Elections Act changed to lower the voting age, send your petition to the federal Minister of Justice. You can also use petitions as a means to persuade any other government agency, organization, or institution (such as your school) to change its current policies.

You can talk to people around you about signing your petition, but you may also want to send copies of it to people you know who live elsewhere and who support your efforts. That way, they can work on convincing even more people to sign it—although, if your petition concerns a provincial or territorial law, it’s best if the people who sign it live in that province or territory (or, if it’s a municipal law, in that municipality). It’s also worth trying to get some media attention for your petition, partly so that people who might be interested in signing it will know that it exists. In addition, some positive publicity will make it harder for politicians or other people in power to ignore the issue that the petition concerns.

Petitions can also be organized online, on Facebook or change.org (among other websites). The obvious advantage to an online petition is numbers: it lets you reach out to a great many people. At least initially, the disadvantage was some people didn’t think that online petitions were as trustworthy as actual pieces of paper—although online petitions have become very common today. If you do start a petition on the Internet, however, be sure to ask the people who sign it to provide their full names and addresses, so that your petition won’t raise doubts about whether some of the signatures were made up. To send the petition to the lawmaker or other official who needs to see it, you can either write the person a formal e-mail, with a link to the petition in it, or mail a printout of the petition and its signatures to his or her office, along with a letter containing the link.

Invoke the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Even though the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child doesn’t have the status of law in Canada, we are supposed to abide by its principles, and it offers a potentially powerful means of persuasion. It makes sense, then, to get to know what rights the Convention gives to young people. If you are writing to someone, you can quote one or more of its articles and explain how the change that you are requesting will support your rights under those articles. Invoking the Convention is another way of adding more voices to your own—in this case, the voice of the United Nations. If your activities ever get as far as lobbying for major legal change at the federal level, you might petition lawmakers to incorporate some of the rights spelled out in the Convention into existing Canadian laws, so that these rights will be legally enforceable.

Challenge a Law in Court

If you think that an existing law contains a rule about young people that violates your constitutional rights, you can—in theory—file a lawsuit in hopes of having that portion of the law overturned. We are including this possibility because it does exist, but we have to admit that it would be an extremely difficult undertaking. For one thing, before you did anything else, you would want to talk to a lawyer about the chances that such a lawsuit would succeed—that is, about whether a legal case could actually be made. (A lawyer might know, for example, that the rule in question has already been challenged in court and was judged to be constitutional.) Moreover, even if, in a lawyer’s opinion, the constitutionality of the rule could reasonably be questioned, bringing such a challenge yourself would be extraordinarily expensive, especially if the case went to the Supreme Court. You would need to hire a very experienced lawyer, and, assuming that you are still a minor, you would also need to find a litigation guardian to file the lawsuit for you (as we explained in chapter 2).

A more realistic option is to try to enlist the support of an organization that deals with children’s and youth rights or related issues and has a history of activism. Such an organization is likely to have access to legal counsel, with whom it could consult. If the organization became convinced that the rule in question could indeed be unconstitutional, it might be willing to bring a lawsuit itself and/or on your behalf.

Demonstrate

Section 2 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms gives citizens the right to “freedom of peaceful assembly” and “freedom of association.” Among other things, this means that people are allowed to get together in a public place and protest against something, as long as they don’t damage property or do anything that is dangerous, violent, or otherwise illegal. Holding a demonstration—waving placards and shouting slogans—has long been a popular way to focus attention on a cause. It can be an effective tactic provided you can get enough people to take part in it, so if you’re planning a demonstration, it needs to be well advertised beforehand. Other than just telling your friends about it, you can hand out flyers or put up posters in places where those who might want to participate tend to be found. And, of course, you can spread the word on social media. A day or two before the demonstration, you might also want to let the local media (especially newspapers) know when and where it will be happening.

Where you hold your demonstration will depend on what you are demonstrating about. If you are protesting against a provincial law, you can demonstrate in front of the provincial legislature (if you happen to live in the capital city) or else some other government building, such as a court of justice. If you’re protesting against a local bylaw, demonstrate in front of city hall. If you object to a company business policy, you can protest in front of their headquarters or other property (such as a store), as long as you don’t trespass on private property. You could even hold a noontime demonstration in front of your school or board of education building, if you’re protesting against a school policy.

Demonstrations often begin with a march through the streets, from a chosen gathering place to a final destination. But, regardless of whether they include a march, demonstrations need to be carefully planned. They also need to be led by someone (or by a small group of leaders), partly to make sure that they don’t get out of hand. If protestors start physically assaulting people or damaging property, what began as a peaceful demonstration could turn into a riot, which is dangerous (and also illegal). If a protest seems to be getting unruly, the police are likely to show up and order everyone to “disperse” in order to break up the demonstration, and they may even arrest people. If ever you are involved in a demonstration where this happens, obey police orders immediately. You can get into serious trouble if you don’t.

Get Help When You Need It

Standing up for your rights takes courage, and it can sometimes be risky. This is especially true when you are dealing with institutional authorities, such as the people who run a school or a hospital or a foster care facility, and asking them to respect the rights you are supposed to have. In some cases, the only people to whom you can direct a complaint are the same people who are violating your rights, and they may try to punish you for complaining about their behaviour. Moreover, individual institutions (such as a public school) are often part of much larger systems, including ones run by the government. Those in charge of such institutions will know how this system is set up and may be able to use it to their advantage. If you accuse them of not respecting your rights, they may, for instance, refer the matter to someone higher up, who will probably support them rather than you.

Such negative reactions should not discourage you from fighting for your rights, but, before you begin, it is wise to think about what you’re up against and what might happen. In an uneven fight, it helps to have someone who will back you up. This could be a parent, but it could also be another adult whom you trust, preferably one who holds a professional position of some sort, as such people tend to have more influence. Also, if the institution in question is part of the government, you could take your complaint to a child ombudsman or youth advocate, who might in turn arrange for a lawyer to help you. If you ever find yourself dealing with the staff of an institution who seem unwilling to respect your rights, be sure to keep a written record of what you’re experiencing, including any documents issued to you. That way, if you decide to take action, you can use these records as evidence of how you were (or are) treated.

Don’t Lose Touch with Your Youthful Spirit

Since the idea of youth rights is still fairly new, changing anything is likely to take a long time and require a lot of effort. But don’t be discouraged: nothing will change if you don’t try to make your voice heard. As long as there is someone out there who wants to change something and is willing to work toward it, hope is alive. If a lot of young people get together, find at least a few adults who are on their side, and keep arguing that youth deserve more rights, eventually the broader public will begin to pay attention, and attitudes will shift, as they have many times in the past.

To all of you who decide to join the cause of children’s and youth rights, we wish you success in your efforts. We believe that the movement for youth rights will continue to grow, but by the time big changes start to happen, you may already be grown up, and the restrictions you’ve been fighting against won’t apply to you any more. We hope that you will hang onto your commitment to youth rights even after you are no longer a youth yourself. Just because you’re now an independent adult doesn’t mean you have to lose touch with what it felt like to be a young person—with the sense of possibility but also with the struggles and frustrations. In the future, you may be a parent yourself, or a teacher, or perhaps even a lawmaker, and you will be able to affect the lives of the next generation of youth. We hope that you use the rights that you gain as an adult to increase their rights, as youth.