Democracy and the child participation

The discussion in this article aims to systematize essential elements around what exactly turns out to be the child participation in the decision-making processes from the perspective of democracy.  With qualitative and documental aspects, this research systematizes the child’s participation, emphasizing the contributions of Sociology of Childhood and History of Childhood, and analyzes the children participation in the decision-making processes based on studies that point out the child as a capable individual. Frequently the children’s idoneity and maturity to reason, stand up for themselves, talk about themselves and tell their story, as well as their capacity of decision and action, are questioned. Modern societies face the paradox of, at the same time as they show a great concern about childhood, depriving the children of their rights, instead of giving continuity to the acknowledgment of the children as capable of being subject of their own history, as we have seen in researches and experiments. To promote the participation means to experience a complex system of interactions that is settled around the initiative, the shared responsibilities, and mainly around the commitment that groups of people, children and adults, can assume while conducting the decision-making process of the realization of the actions of a determinate project. The unequal distribution of power between adults and children is defined by social and ideological reasons, with consequences in the control and domination of groups. The conclusion indicates the need to expand democracy, starting with a broader discussion about the rights of participation that children and teenagers have, from the perspective of a more humane and inclusive education. This implies a consideration with the child and the teenager as social and political individuals that are entitled to have an opinion and to access information.