Doc. 8142

17 June 1998

A dynamic social policy for children and adolescents

in towns and cities

Motion for a recommendation

presented by Ms. Maximus and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

1.       The Assembly is concerned that young people in towns and cities are becoming increasingly asocial and is worried about the many social ills connected with urban life and the emergence of suburban “ghettos” (e.g. child violence, juvenile delinquency, sometimes involving very young children, the possession of weapons and drugs and their availability, particularly in educational establishments, street children, a worrying increase in certain diseases, the disappearance of public-spiritedness, the lack of participation in political life, the poor prospects and sense of disaffection of young people in unsightly and deprived suburbs).

2.       The Assembly notes that these phenomena exist, albeit to differing degrees, in most European towns and cities, in both the well-established democracies of western Europe and the new Council of Europe member states.

3.       At the same time, states are stepping up law-enforcement measures directed against young people, in some cases in breach of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Such an approach is not always appropriate and must not be adopted in isolation.

4.       The fate of children in prisons, especially when in detention awaiting trial, provides particular justification for seeking alternative solutions that will safeguard their future in society.

5.       A number of possible approaches are set forth in Recommendation 1286 on a European Strategy for Children, adopted in 1996. They should now be examined in greater detail and developed. One step should be to conduct surveys, in co-operation in particular with UNICEF and the WHO, to determine the effects of urban life on the health and social wellbeing of children and adolescents in Europe.

6.       If the “barbarisation” of society is to be avoided, social and educational policy responses must be developed without delay in order to mobilise parents and adults and alert them to their responsibilities, prepare children for life in society, restore a sense of citizenship, give them a better quality of life in towns and cities, and encourage their participation in the life of the community.

Signed¹:

Maximus, Belgium, SOC

Arnau, Spain, SOC

Belohorska, Slovakia, EDG

Biga-Friganovic, Croatia, SOC

Brunhart, Liechtenstein, EPP/CD

Dees, Netherlands, LDR

Dhaille, France, SOC

Gibula, Poland, SOC

Gusenbauer, Austria, SOC

Hancock, United Kingdom, LDR

Hegyi, Hungary, SOC

Lucyga, Germany, SOC

Martelli, Italy, EDG

Popescu, Romania, EPP/CD

Poptodorova, Bulgaria, SOC

Pozza Tasca, Italy, LDR

Sceberras Trigona, Malta, SOC

Silay, Turkey, EDG

Sincai, Romania, SOC

Valkeniers, Belgium, LDR

¹        SOC: Socialist Group

      EPP/CD: Group of the European People’s Party

      EDG: European Democratic and Reformers Group

LDR: Liberal, Democratic and Reformers Group

      UEL: Group of the Unified European Left

      NR: not registered in a group