This is the fourth area of the five that covers Every Child Matters. It is where you will find the opportunities young people should have of volunteering, being active in their community and having their voices heard.

“Making a positive contribution. All young people participating in positive activities to develop personal and social skills, promote well-being and reduce behaviour that puts them at risk. Significantly reduce by 2020 the number of young offenders receiving a conviction, reprimand, or final warning for a recordable offence for the first time, with a goal to be set in the Youth Crime Action Plan.

• Engage in decision-making and support the community and environment
• Engage in law-abiding and positive behaviour in and out of school
• Develop positive relationships and choose not to bully and discriminate
• Develop self-confidence and successfully deal with significant life changes and challenges
• Develop enterprising behaviour
• Parents, carers and families promote positive behaviour”
Every Child Matters Outcomes Framework 2008
Download document here.

The Children’s Act started as the work of the Children and Young People’s Unit, a cross ministry group who were looking at how Government departments treated children. They did one of the biggest consultations of young people, framed within the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Due to the Laming Report and the pressure to emphasise the role of families more, the Unit was closed down and their work fed into an agenda of protection. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child became secondary, something to be mentioned in an introduction or an appendix or not at all (in the Green paper and the implementation framework Children’s rights is not mentioned). Indeed the government has portrayed Every Child Matters as providing more than the Convention.

The historical background to Every Child Matters: Click here where you can find a pdf of the Green Paper and of the framework for implementation.

To find out more about Positive Contribution, how it links to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and how it contributes to participation, click on the Participation tab near the top of this page.