How the CRC Affects Actual Children’s Lives

Chapter eleven uses stories drawn from the author’s field work in Italy to rebut the charge that the CRC makes no difference in the lives of real world children. These narratives explore how specific CRC rights, including the right to play, the right to participation in civic life, the right to be heard in judicial and administrative proceedings, the rights of children accused of crimes, the right to education, the rights to identity and family, the right to adoption, and the right to inclusion of children with disabilities, have changed the lives of specific children. The author explores the connections between these children’s stories and Italy’s ratification and implementation of the CRC and how the CRC’s principles have played out in application. These examples show how a truly rights regarding macrosystem can change the ecology of childhood from the bottom up, by influencing family and community culture, as well as from the top down, by changing laws and policies.