Childhood
Genetics and infancy

Internet
Foster families

Length of school day

Racism

Also the Children’s Ombudsman has promoted a programme on local TV. This programme is made by children. Children are involved in discussions about different issues, such as:

Drugs

Abortion

School timetables

Immigration

Books and children

One of the purposes of this Institution is to maintain a continuous relationships with children in their schools or in the centres where they live. So the Ombudsman is trying to involve children in decisions which affect their lives and to make them conscious of their rights. More than thirty meetings with children have taken place.

The ombudsman for children has improved participation of children in town halls. We have four children’s parliaments in various town halls of Madrid.

Other Organizations have been promoted by the Children’s Ombudsman such as "Building the Future" which is a scheme in which children promote their own rights through, for example, writing leaflets, performing plays or helping to keep parks clean.

He has also supported the organization of children forums in Europe.

Children from different schools work at the same time on a given issue and then give their conclusions in a public meeting. Local authorities are invited in order to listen to them and to take their proposals into account.

We continually strive to attract the attention of the children in order to involve them in the promotion of their rights. For this purpose the Children’s Ombudsman has created a "mascot", named "DIMAS". Dimas is a little bird and is very close to children. He protects their interests and helps them understand some difficult issues, such as the rights of children who have a terminal or serious illness, like cancer.

We have developed a play about the rights of the child, trying to raise awareness of the true meaning of these rights and to make them familiar to children and society.

Book, titled: The invisible children.

Leaflet: Twenty five questions about sexual orientation.

Book: We would like to have parents we would like to have a son.

Book: Children in Spain and Latin America.

Violence in games. Especially in "roll" play.

Analysis of the way that parents, society and mass media socialise children and how children interpret it.

Immigrant children in Spain.

Six year old children and under in the educational system

The condition of the playparks. Places where children play games.

The High Commissioner maintains relations with the Legislative Assembly of Madrid, Spanish Parliament Ombudsman, Chief Prosecutor’s office for the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid, Children Prosecutor’ Office; National Government; Madrid Regional Administration; Madrid Local Administrations (Town Halls), Associations; N.G.O.’s, Foundations and other Agencies who work with children.

Each year the Ombudsman for Children has to report to the Regional Parliament about the activities of the Office. The 1999 report was published in May and it was very well received by all political parties.

Some of these have been:

Education. This Office has recommended that specialist support is offered in schools to children who are hyperactive and/or have behavioural problems.

Also about system of children’s admission into primary school. For example, siblings of the same age can be admitted to the same school at the same time. Previously this was not so.

More care is now taken when there is a change of teacher in the middle of the school year.

Improvement of children’s schooling when they are in care of the state authorities.

Health. Health care is now given to immigrant children. As regards piercing (e.g. nose rings), children have to be informed about their rights and the risks involved.

Mass media. The C.O. has recommended more strongly that t.v., radio and press, contain less violence, especially at times when children are watching.

The Ombudsman for children has elaborated a detailed report about the phisical punishment for parents to children. From the Convetion on the Rights of the Child, the Governments must adapt their legislation in order to respect the children’s human rights. Some changes have been made in the education’s system, forbiding the phisical punishments in school. The Civil Code permit parents to punish children in a reasonable way. This Office has proposed to the Parliament the change of this law, adding to the article "without phisical punishment or other methods what it could damage the personal integrity and dignity".

Following the recommedations of the C.O., new centres have been stablished for women in prison who have children under 3 years of age, where children can live a normal life, with much more freedom.

There have been 12,586 complaints lodged during 1998, 12,498 made by citizens and 88 at our own discretion. As many of these complaints overlap, this has led to 852 files. The most common issues were:

Adoption and International adoption

Foster families

Violence in plays. (Videogames)

Children taken away from their father or mother, (with one trying to avoid the contact with the other, in cases of broken couples).

Publicity targeted at children.

Respect of children rights in the mass media.

Immigrant children. The right to protect their health.

Children being sexually abused. Protection.

There has been an increase in the number of children who have complained directly to this Office, although most of these have involved adults as intermediaries.

This Office has received 2,024 telephone calls during 1999, made by adults and children about similar concerns as reported above. There has been a significant increase in relation to the phone calls received in 1998.

Last edited by Barneombudet March 22, 2004
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