Seoul to better protect children

By Yi Whan-woo

The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to enact an ordinance on the rights of children and adolescents as early as October, an official said Wednesday.

With rising concerns of an unfavorable social environment, the ordinance is to guarantee the best interests of those under 18 years of age, in accordance with a convention and guidelines set by the United Nations.

This is the first time in the country for a municipal or provincial government to push for an ordinance for the rights of children.

“We’ve been pushing to enact the ordinance since last year to protect our children from growing incidents of harassment and bullying in schools as well as other risk factors,” said Lee Sang-kook, director of the children and youth division at the municipal government.

“The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) generally defines a child as a person aged under 18, and this ordinance will comply with the global effort to provide the young a safe social environment,” he added.

According to the UNCRC, every child has certain basic rights. The convention deals with the specific needs of children throughout the world.

The city government will reflect opinions from children and teenagers to make sure the ordinance is practical in real terms. It will select adolescents based on several criteria that include gender, age, level of poverty, physical disability, exposure to any form of violence, and illness.

The municipality will also conduct surveys of teenagers, their parents and teachers to find out their level of awareness on children’s rights.

Multicultural or North Korean defector families will be interviewed by child experts and lawyers.

The city will also form a committee comprised of parents, teachers, civil activists, lawyers, journalists and child experts to draft the ordinance by October, during which city councilmen will review the draft and make a decision on whether to approve it or not.

The municipal authorities plan to monitor and revise the ordinance every five year to reflect the rapidly changing social environment for young people.

“We hope children, who are our future, will be better protected legally under this ordinance and we will make sure to pinpoint any problems for improvement,” an official said.