Are children in our country happy?

"Whether or not its children are happy is usually a good indication of whether or not a country’s society and politics are sound" is the slogan of "Child Friendly Cities", established by the U.N. International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). Are the children of Japan really happy?

Professor Takashi Igarashi presented, during an interview conducted by the Science Portal, the results of a study on the happiness level of children, which was released by UNICEF and involved children in OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) member countries (refer to "Lonely Children" Japanese, March 16, 2009). Although the overall happiness level is not shown due to the lack of some of the indices, I am concerned that the study indicates some worrying trends, including the particular loneliness felt by Japanese children. Other similar results revealed that many Japanese children hold no hope for the future, or have weak self-affirmation, which may imply that there are many children in Japan who do not feel happy, or do not have a particular sense of happiness or unhappiness. This suggests that our society is not sound, and that its politics are not good.

The first pillar of UNICEF’s "Child Friendly Cities" is "Children's Participation". This motto means that if there are any problems in society or politics, children should be involved in the improvement process and the creation of Child Friendly Cities.

Inter-disciplinary discussion on the optimal environment for children’s growth in the Science Council of Japan

In the paper "Establishing a national strategy for the creation of an environment in which to raise healthier children" (PDF, Japanese, 2007), the Science Council of Japan announced that the government should work on a comprehensive strategy to create an appropriate environment for children’s growth, showing data that indicated the problems of the deterioration of the minds and bodies of the children. The report was the outcome of a discussion in the 20^th sitting of the topic-based committee, the "Strategy and policy committee for the creation of an environment in which to raise healthier children".

In response, the 21^st sitting of the Science Council resulted in the creation of a "Child-rearing environment subcommittee" as an inter-disciplinary committee which holds discussions from different perspectives, including "Child-rearing Space", "Methods", "Time Period", and "Community". Propositions on "Child-rearing Space" and "Methods" have already been submitted, and the discussion on "Time Period" has just been completed. The Council was composed of three sections, in which many experts from a variety of academic fields participated, so the conference was truly academic and the meeting frequency is also outstanding. The Council conducted monitoring for the first time as an activity of this committee, and this was followed up with a report, "Review of the Proposal and Challenges of Child-rearing Space (2008), and New Proposals" (Japanese, PDF).

However, our efforts of sending out information like that noted above have not sufficiently raised the awareness of our country or society. The response rate to the questionnaire sent to related agencies and departments was appalling at a mere ten percent. Some even asked "What sort of organization is the Science Council?"

Science Forum, "Realizing Child Friendly Cities"

In response to the situation above, we held a science forum, "Realizing Child Friendly Cities" in the conference hall of the Science Council of Japan on September 20. The first part was based on previous discussions in the Council. Professor Mitsuru Senda of the Open University discussed "Child-rearing Space", Professor Nobuko Uchida of Ochanomizu University spoke about "Child-rearing Methods", and Professor Tsutomu Yada of Aichi Sangyo University talked about "Disasters and Children". The second part of the forum was a symposium. Kimiko Ozawa, President of the Association for Children's Environment, spoke about "Council Activities to Support the Victims of the Tohoku Earthquake", and Takashi Igarashi, Professor of Tokyo University and Chairman of the subcommittee, talked about "The Infant Health Care System". This was followed by some discussion topics provided by the Council.

Tomoko Fujiwara, Counselor to the Director-General for Policy Planning in the Cabinet Office, then participated in the symposium as a guest from the government, talking about the new national system of child rearing. She noted the share of family-related social spending in the GDP, which is rather low compared to other advanced countries. Another guest was Ken Hayami, Managing Director of UNICEF Japan, who spoke about the framework of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, and the program for "Child Friendly Cities".

The discussion focused on "Communicative Parenting", as proposed by Professor Nobuko Uchida. Her report was interesting because she held a view opposing the belief that economic disparity is reflected in educational achievement. In summary, when compared with "one-way parenting", "communicative parenting" (or a style of parenting in which parents talk with their children to learn what they feel or think, rather than just giving them instructions) proved to be effective in nurturing a high level of word sense and linguistic ability in children. In other words, regardless of their parents’ income, children may acquire a self-governing way of thinking that is critical for academic achievement if they are raised in a family where communicative parenting is implemented. This explanation has something in common with the participation of children.

The Tohoku Earthquake was again mentioned in a discussion of the children's situation. As Professor Yada said, "reconstruction efforts may take time, but childhood never comes again", and industrial and infrastructure development or the welfare of seniors often tends to come first, with consideration of the children's environment being left behind. Isn't it important for reconstruction to be "designed with the involvement of the children" (Ozawa), and "advocacy for the children's benefit" (Hayami) to be given top priority, as the children are the central characters in the era?

Rebuilding Japan through reconstruction with the participation of children

There are perennial biases in society about listening to children, claiming "listening to them only makes them bossy", or "hearing them is not feasible". Even when children are allowed to participate, it is a mere formality, and there are actually many cases in which it seems that adults do not trust them. It seems that an atmosphere of "one-way parenting" dominates our society, and this may affect the happiness of the children.

On September 4, when I attended the "Kodomo miraijin Summit (People creating the future)", where fifty-five junior and senior high school students from the disaster-hit areas gathered together, I listened to stories of how they supported elderly people voluntarily, or did activities to help revive their communities, even though they themselves were victims, and I felt that I saw hope for the future in their activities.

If the children could play a part in the reconstruction and lead the way to overcoming this difficult situation, we may create a society in which they feel happy. I hope that nurturing the willful next generation as well as raising strong and healthy children to create the future is taken into consideration in the course of reconstruction. The Prime Minister said, "The rebuilding of Japan will never be completed without the reconstruction of Fukushima". However, I would like to say, "The rebuilding of Japan will never be completed without reconstruction with a view to creating Child Friendly Cities with children’s participation".

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