ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the creation of children’s rights charters in history and in geography, initially considering the Geneva Declaration of Rights of the Child, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Child and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It discusses the social justice is mediated for children in the neo-liberal environment of the contemporary UK, from the ‘Every Child Matters’ perspective, followed by some practical illustrations of policy. The chapter deals with a consideration of mental health issues that have arisen for children and young people in the UK at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Education has long been viewed within British society as a process through which to progress national social justice, and, in the more immediate sense for children and young people, with respect to their developmental needs. Neo-liberalism therefore poses a formidable double bind for families, particularly those in which both parents work long hours for low wages.
