Kids Law
This is a podcast about children and the laws that affect them as they grow up. Alma-Constance, our host, decided to start the podcast in 2021, when she turned 10 years old. Living in England, UK, she discovered that at 10 years old she would have reached the age of criminal responsibility. This is one of the youngest ages of criminalising children in the developed world. That was a pretty shocking discovery for her especially as she realised that she and her peers knew nothing about what this meant in practice and how it can affected children and their families. With the help of Lucinda Acland, a lawyer, and supported by Next 100 Years, they set out to ask some questions of leading experts to help children make sense of it all. There are a lot of laws that affect #children as they grow up and they are confusing and complicated and can affect all aspects of their day-to-day life from #education to online protections or at home, if families break up. It is difficult to keep track and understand the laws and how they impact a child's life. Alma-Constance is determined to help #TeachKidsLaw at a much younger age to help them grow up into adults confident with their legal knowledge. Understanding how the law works and being able to understand complex concepts of #justice and #ruleoflaw will help anyone as they try to navigate their lives. You can email us: kidslaw@spark21.org or reach us on social media channels and our www.kidslaw.info website.
Kids Law
Why are Children’s Rights in Scotland the Strongest in the UK?
Why has Scotland given children the strongest rights in the UK?
Alma- Constance and Lucinda ask Bruce Adamson, the Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland.
He tells us:
· How he works with his team to promote and safeguard the rights of everyone in Scotland up to the age of 18.
· About the three laws he wanted to change to raise the age of criminal responsibility, stop the physical punishment of children and how he brought the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into Scottish law.
· How he works with children’s panels who asked him to work on poverty, mental health and climate change.
· How children can become a human rights defenders.
Bruce says that when he was 10 years old, he was living on a farm in New Zealand and loved sports. He was inspired by his mother who worked as a mental health nurse to help her community and when he was older, he became a lawyer and a human rights advocate.
Written, edited and produced by Lucinda Acland
References and Resources
Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland @CYPCS
@bruce_adamson
https://www.cypcs.org.uk/rights/uncrc/
https://www.cypcs.org.uk/positions/age-of-criminal-responsibility/
If you've got any questions, ideas about a topic or someone to interview, get in touch, we'd love to hear from you!! You can email us at kidslaw@spark21.org, contact us through the website: www.kidslaw.info or through social media: Facebook, X and Instagram @KidsLawInfo
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See you soon in the next episode!
