Funky Dragon Participation

 

Here at Funky Dragon, participation is the aim of all the work we do. We are here to develop and promote the effective participation of children and young people in decision-making in Wales.


When talking of participation and empowerment it means giving all children and young people the opportunity to be involved in decision-making at all levels. This means having a say in anything that affects them. It means being listened to and knowing that what children and young people say will be be taken seriously and acted upon.

The right to participate in decision making, is laid down in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). By enabling children and young people to participate, we are contributing towards the implementation of the UNCRC in Wales. Funky Dragon stands by Article 12 which states -

"Governments shall assure the right of the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child”

Making participation effective is very important and consultation is an important factor. Consultation is most effective when children and young people are empowered, have fun and feel valued - that is when they really participate. This needs to be backed by effective communication, real influence, feedback and evaluation. Enabling young people to make decisions on how to conduct every stage of the consultation also ensures that they are empowered by your consultation.

There are different levels of participation which can be used when working with young people. The diagram below shows you the 5 different levels which is developed from Roger Hart's Ladder of Participation (1997).

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The project is designed and run by adults, but young people are consulted. They have a full understanding of the process and their views are taken seriously Adults decide on the project and young people volunteer for it. They know who decided to involved them and why. Adults respect young people’s views Young people have the initial idea and decide how the project is going to be carried out. Adults are available but do not take charge Children have the ideas, set up projects and come to adults for advice, discussion and support. The adults do not direct, but offer their expertise for young people to consider Adults have the initial idea, but young people are involved in every step of the planning and implementation. Not only are their views considered but children are also involved in taking decisions

We are a completely peer-led organisation which dictates the work we undertake. Throughout this website you can see this, while learning and getting a better understanding of the participation work Funky Dragon does.
 

Funky Dragon has produced a guide called "Breathing Fire into Participation"
which tells of good practice guidelines on supporting groups of children
and young people to participate.

You can purchase a hard copy of this guide for £5 or you can download it on the link below.

Document Download: Breathing Fire into Participation [715 Kilo bytes PDF File]