Children's rights in Scotland
You can probably think of lots of ways in your everyday life that you experience children’s rights. From when you get up to going to school, meeting friends and having somewhere to sleep at night.
There are lots of other ways your rights are respected in Scotland that you might not have realised. Here are some examples:
| Your views being heard | There is a Scottish Children’s Parliament and Scottish Youth Parliament to represent your views and to campaign for things that are important for children and young people. |
| Freedom from physical punishment | The Scottish Government recently changed the law so that parents are no longer allowed to physically punish their children, for example by smacking. |
| Right to be cared for | There has been a long review of the way children in care are looked after in Scotland to make sure they get the best possible care. |
| Your views being heard |
| There is a Scottish Children’s Parliament and Scottish Youth Parliament to represent your views and to campaign for things that are important for children and young people. |
| Freedom from physical punishment |
| The Scottish Government recently changed the law so that parents are no longer allowed to physically punish their children, for example by smacking. |
| Right to be cared for |
| There has been a long review of the way children in care are looked after in Scotland to make sure they get the best possible care. |
Although many of your rights are protected in Scotland, it’s important to remember not all of them are all the time.
For example, lots of children grow up in poverty, and until recently children as young as eight could be held responsible for a crime – this was one of the lowest ages in the world.