Small Voices, Big Dreams

"These are real kids with real concerns, and they see the world as a violent place. It's not a perspective of innocence we are seeing."
"Education in developing nations is one of the things children in developing nations value highly, and that's because they don't have access to it."
"In Canada, kids aren't going to list education as their dream of escaping violence. They don't worry about education because they have access to it. Canadian kids are very much aware of guns and gangs and violence."
"We see all these stereotypes in the media that portray parents as kind of dumb and silly and not knowing what they're doing when, in reality, kids are very strongly grounded in their parents and family. The survey showed that the place they feel most happy is in the arms of the family. And they actually see mom and dad as their heroes. They may complain about their parents but they really do view them as providing a shelter from the storms of the world."
"We see (in the children surveyed) a very sophisticated and knowledgeable awareness of violence and its causes, and that's a global trend. But at the same time, if you look at some of the answers, all around the globe they have a sense of hope and they are looking for security."
Sandra Upeslacis, Christian Children's Fund of Canada,ChildFund Alliance

 Christian Children’s Fund of Canada’s Small Voices, Big Dreams survey - Georgia, age 11: “The main cause of violence is my country is people shooting with guns and I disagree with that.” Photograph by: Handout photo , Christian Children's Fund of Canada

"Children in both the developed world and the developing world have an intelligent view of their environments and are highly aware of the conflict and precursors to violence in their respective countries."
Jim Emerson, ChildFund director general

Small Voices, Big Dreams is the title of the fourth annual survey conducted by ChildFund Alliance. The opinions of almost 6,500 children between ten and 12 years of age in 47 countries on all manner of issues from identifying their heroes and what can be done about bad people, to what makes them feel vulnerable, have been assembled and the findings released for International Children's Day. The total of those surveyed included 400 Canadian children.

Childhood, which most of us think nostalgically of as a time of freedom from constraints and of innocent thoughts and longings is anything but that for many children of the world. In some countries it is indeed a time of play and being care-free and lovingly guided. In other countries childhood is overwhelmed by the fear of the world they live in representing a threatening, violent place of conflict. Simply because it is.

The survey focused on issues such as exploitation and violence as recognized by children in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. Children were asked to detail what it would be that makes them feel safe and happy. Of children in Africa, 29% linked violence and poverty; in North and South America, 20% of children saw domestic abuse forming the basis of violence touching their lives. A surprising figure much higher than that of any other region of the world.

On the other hand, 25% of children in Asia considered alcohol to be the major source of violence - four times greater than in Africa, and twice as much as in the Americas. There are other survey results that demand attention. In developing countries of Africa only 43% of children consider their families the source of safety and happiness. While 65% of children in the developed world, including Canada, regard their families as the fount of comfort and safety.

It was pointed out as an example that a school-age girl in Burkina Faso is unable to attend school because fetching water for her family from a distant source, a matter of survival, leaves her no time or opportunity to dream of school attendance. Added to that sad fact is the misery that she can be subjected to violence, including sexual abuse, while she is out and about on her water-gathering trek.

"Canadian kids are very much aware of guns and gangs and violence" said Ms. Upeslacis. Children in developing countries are likelier to think of their teachers as hero figures, while those in the west recognize their parents in heroic terms. In developed countries a hefty proportion of children think of alcohol, drugs and bad behaviour as the top causes of violence.

Poverty, social conflict and domestic abuse are ranked high in developing countries. And children everywhere are in agreement that there is a need for increased law and order. In other words, the survey reveals that children's awareness of the world close about them is more intense than most adults give them credit for. And perhaps that is because adults would prefer children not know.

For the simple thought that what they may not be aware of will keep them somehow safe and secure or at the very least give them a sense of security and trust. Ms. Upeslacis suggests that since children have a tendency to consider their parents represent their role models, parents have a requirement to behave more "heroically".

"That's certainly something you can read from the survey", she observed.