Libro

MEDIA LITERACY AND INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE
Strategies, Debates and Good Practices
which parents started to pay more attention to their education, thinking on a
future career. However, this was a privilege of the wealthiest families, as
children placed in low socio-economic groups had to help in the support of the
family (Ariès, 1988).
Only in the 20th century, we assist a genuine process of conquest of the child
for a place in society, and enhanced visibility and recognition as an active
person with their own rights. Give up the separation between the adult world
and the world of children. With widespread access to education, as well as
literate, children started to being educated for citizenship (Jans, 2004).
It is during this century that child begins to gain the contours of the
contemporary vision approach. The access to education and the changings in
the family structures contribute to democratize relationships, not only in terms of
family, but also in relation to society (ibid.).
Nevertheless, currently, childhood continues to present itself as an ambivalent
phenomenon. Although predominate discourses that look for the child as an
autonomous subject, it remains an object of care and protection (Jans, 2004).
On the other hand, it is important to note that even in childhood, there are
different aspects, so when we think about that, we cannot see it as an universal
phenomenon. According to Buckingham (2005), expert in the field of Media
Education, the changes in societies affect children differently, which means that
there is a kind of polarization between rich and poor and between those living a
childhood so-called modern and traditional. Nevertheless, the author recognizes
that the authority and power of adults to children has faded, leading to the
conquest of these for a place as citizens.
Nowadays, there is an understanding of the child as social actor and subject of
strengths and skills as a result of the emergence of Sociology of Childhood
studies, sociocultural theories and the implementation of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child (Graham & Fitzgerald, 2010).
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is a document prepared by
the United Nations in 1989, having been ratified by several countries, including
Portugal. This means that it acquires legal validity in international legal terms,
combining a set of children's rights, considered all individuals under 18 years of
age, pursuant to Article 1.
Despite the apparent acceptance and implementation of the document by the
countries that ratified it, the truth is that its adoption was not a fast process,
because of some reservations made by some countries (Marôpo, 2009).
Being composed of 54 articles, the CDC advocates the importance of
respecting the cultural values of the community of children and the role of
international cooperation so that their rights are a reality. At the same time,
reinforces the family's role as a key element to ensure the growth and wellbeing
of children, which should be inserted in an atmosphere of happiness, love
and understanding.
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