Childhoods : growing up in Aotearoa New Zealand /
edited by Nancy Higgins & Claire Freeman.
- 325 pages : illustrations (some colour) ; 23 cm
Includes bibliographical references (pages 287-316) and index.
The context -- Introduction: children in Aotearoa New Zealand - an overview / A theoretical framework for childhood / Children and vulnerability / The changing environmental worlds of Aotearoa New Zealand children / Ethics in research with children / Experiencing diverse childhoods -- Recollecting childhood at school in the early twentieth century / Managed childhoods: a social history of urban children's play / Growing up Māori and disabled in Aotearoa New Zealand / Multicultural childhoods in a globalised world / Children and young people's participation in family law decision-making / The needs of adopted and fostered children / Being young and working / Technology occupies us: children, media and Aotearoa New Zealand society / Children's and young people's voices -- Children's participation and voice in early childhood education / Children of prisoners / Children's understanding of success / Disrupting heteronormativity: a high school queer-straight alliance? / Stories from the margins: Rangatahi Māori experiences of transition to work / Conclusion: where are we going? / Claire Freeman and Nancy Higgins -- Anne B. Smith -- Nicola Atwood -- Claire Freeman -- Jude MacArthur and Margaret McKenzie -- Helen May -- Christina R. Ergler, Robin Kearns and Karen Witten -- Hazel Philips and Nancy Higgins -- Karen Guo -- Nicola Taylor and Megan Gollop -- Anita Gibbs -- Ruth Gasson and James Calder -- Martha Bell and Vitoria Farmer -- Lyn Foote, Fiona Ellis and Ruth Gasson -- Julie Lawrence -- Judith Sligo and Karen Nairn -- Kathleen Quinlivan -- Moana Mitchell and Hazel Phillips -- Nancy Higgins and Claire Freeman. Part I. Part II. Part III.
Children are citizens with autonomy and rights identified by international agencies and United Nations conventions, but these rights are not readily enforceable. Some of the worst levels of child poverty and poor health in the OECD, as well as exceptionally high child suicide rates, exist in Aotearoa New Zealand today. More than a quarter of children are experiencing a childhood of hardship and deprivation in a context of high levels of inequality. Maori children face particular challenges. In a country that characterises itself as 'a good place to bring up children', this is of major concern. The essays in this book are by leading researchers from several disciplines and focus on all of our children and young people, exploring such topics as the environment (economic, social and natural), social justice, children's voices and rights, the identity issues they experience and the impact of rapid societal change. What children themselves have to say is insightful and often deeply moving.