Abstract:

In 1990 the Convention on the Rights of the Child included the assurance that children who are capable of forming their own views shall have the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting them. This disruptive ideal has the potential to change everything as children learn to be visible protagonists and take on their role as participating citizens. But literature instead often presents the heteronomous perspective that engulfs children every day. Authoritarian attitudes promote a single story that values silent, invisible, passive and sheep-like children. There are, fortunately, authors and publishers who are willing to be risk takers and who support the unpopular idea that young readers can be encouraged to become visible. Occupying an upstander stance by standing up to injustice as well as standing up for themselves disrupts the standard narrative of that single story.

One such upstander was Janusz Korczak, a Jew and a Polish doctor and writer living during the Nazi occupation and managing two orphanages for both Jewish and Christian children. In both he worked with the children to implement thoroughly democratic practices and procedures because he believed that children had the right to their own point of view. His children’s books earned him success as a children’s author although he was a successful writer of other forms. King Matthew the First published in 1923 was about a child who became king and established a kingdom for children where they are emancipated. His other works include Kaytek the Wizard published in 1933 about a young boy with wizarding powers who learns to use them to take responsibility for his actions. Both books speak to the desire of the young to escape adultism and shape their own lives. This is indeed a different single story from what most adults think and one that Korczak taught, practiced and lived. Sadly he and all of the orphans were taken to Treblinka and murdered but fortunately his writing remains. His efforts had a significant influence on the convention of the rights of the child and continue to currently.

This paper will review his stories which can help a reader navigate into their own self and provide literary opportunities that support the rights of the child. Exposing readers to stories that challenge the detrimental effects of heteronomy can help young people around the world learn their value as change agents and activists.

Keywords:

Children's rights, literature, adultism, engagement.