"The world is made up of children and adults, but our voices are often ignored when it comes to making decisions relating to our life. So today, we stand here and wish for our stories heard. We want to tell the whole world that children can really change the world."

As a member of Roots and Shoots programme, an international environmental group in 50 countries, Liu Yun was able to effect change with her schoolmates at the Shanghai Gezhi Middle School, which began Roots and Shoots in 2001, joining with 80 other education entities in China.

Liu found that the fast food restaurant near her school delivered food in plastic boxes.

"So we went to the restaurant and told the owner that it adds to pollution and that the use of disposable wooden chopsticks threatens to deplete China's forest resources within 10 years," she said. In time, the owner began using boxes made of degradable materials.

"Now even the parents of our group members take spoons and lunch boxes when dining out," she said excitedly. "I am so glad that they listen to us and that our suggestions can really affect people."

Along with classmates, Liu has worked on paper recycling, shoe recycling, used battery collection and a poster display about environmental protection.

Liu's speech was the perfect footnote to the theme of a concert initiated by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) - "Changing the world with children," which aims to facilitate citizen action and get support from key leaders in all sectors of society to make a real difference in the fulfillment of children's rights.

The future generation

David Parker, senior programme coordinator at UNICEF-China said: "Children are not only our future, they are our present and we need to start taking their voices very seriously. We must listen carefully to what young people have to say and give them every opportunity to speak. We must reach out to them and encourage them to participate in the decision-making processes that affect their lives."

Other supporters also praise the programme.

"When you let children speak their mind and share with their thoughts, you can find their face lit up," said Gary V, a pop icon and a UNICEF national ambassador in the Philippines, who sang with his 14-year-son at the concert. "It really needs more people to build awareness for the effort. Only after people are aware of children's participation, can they jump in and be a part of it. Music is a very important factor to get people involved and when they are involved they start to do it and the ball starts to roll."

Today, children are the centre of their families and the focus of society, expert said. Many have the best education, food, clothes and all the comforts that their parents can afford. But many are lonely, experts added.

A 2001 survey of 3,371 children between the ages of 10 and 18 found that one out of every three children hates school, while 59.9 per cent of parents believe their children are happy to go to school everyday. The survey was conducted by the Beijing-based China Youth and Children Research Centre and Beijing Normal University in 10 provinces and municipalities.

Another survey in North China's Tianjin Municipality that same year found that 90 per cent of parents seldom talk with their children.

"My parents often tell me which school I should attend, what kind of friends I should make and they even go as far as telling me how to spend my spare time after school. But they never bother to ask me if I agree or not," an unnamed 14-year-old from the Jianhua Middle School in Beijing said.

A 2002 survey by the Shanghai Youth League found that only 38 per cent of parents make decisions with their children. Another survey conducted by the China Youth and Children Research Centre indicates that less than half of the children polled feel that their opinions, and those of their friends, weigh in the decisions made about them.

The story of rock singer Zheng Jun

Zheng's father died when he was seven. His mother was always busy earning money for the family. His elder brother often beat him.

Left alone in the family, he spent his childhood staring at the ceiling without saying a word for a whole day. At the age of eight, he even contemplated suicide.

At the concert in Shanghai, the singer, now in his early 30s, stressed the importance of loving children.

"Parents really need to sit down and listen to their children and take their views into account. Never leave them alone in despair the way I experienced in my childhood," said Zheng, adding that "Children's hearts are tender, they hunger for love, attention and company."

Experts agree with Zheng's advice.

"In our society, adults seldom listen to children even when discussing issues about children," said Bu Wei, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). "When giving awards to the best children literature or TV dramas, there are no children judges. Children's Day is children's holiday, but in most cases, it is the school that makes decisions on how to celebrate the occasion and children merely follow."

Parents, more often than not, believe that children are too young to be the masters of their own lives and that parental choices are best for them.

"My kid is only an elementary school pupil. How can I listen to her when making decisions?" said a woman surnamed Hu, who would not give her full-name.

According to researcher Bu, the biggest obstacle to adults' listening to children is their sense of authority and pride.

"They think that children are ignorant and that their ideas contribute nothing to decision making. Actually children are experts of their own issues," Bu said.

She believes children can make reasonable and responsible decisions if they are given proper support and respect, because "they are individuals who have their own points of view about their own feelings and issues. What's more, they are honest, caring, curious and are imaginative, all of which are elements for good decisions."

"If we always deprive children of the right to voice their ideas, it makes them feel inferior. Children may not realize this unfairness when they are still young, but they feel oppressed emotionally, which translates into fear, anger and dismay. It might also lead to irresponsible behaviour in their adult years," Bu added.

A survey last year in Beijing of 4,193 teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18 found that 44.2 per cent felt pressure from families and that 36.1 per cent harbour the idea of running away.

"If we always make decisions for children, sooner or later their potential will disappear," Bu said. "Children will have no resources to face difficulties in their own life, let alone changing the world when they grow up. When the time comes and adults begin to blame their kids for being immature for society, they don't realize that it's their own fault."

Listen to the children

Sun Yunxiao, director of China Youth and Children Research Centre, calls on parents, school teachers, policy makers and every member of society to enable children to voice their concerns, trust their abilities, and empower them through discourse on human rights and equality.

The relationship between children and teachers should be one of mutual respect, Sun said.

"A good teacher," he added, "is always ready to find the needs of children and try his or her best to meet them. Once you listen to them and enter their hearts, you will find they really can work wonders."

Wang Xiangdao, 15, a member of the Roots and Shoots group at the Shanghai Gaoji Middle School, put it more vividly.

"Just like the name of our group. Roots creep underground everywhere and make a firm foundation like adults. Shoots seem very weak like us, but to reach the light they can break through brick walls. Imagine that the brick walls are all the problems we have inflicted on our planet. Hundreds and thousands of roots and shoots, hundreds and thousands of young people around the world, can break through these walls. We can change the world."

(China Daily December 17, 2002)