Introduction

So far in this book, I have explored several spaces and places within society where children and young people are encouraged to be and become good citizens. In this chapter, I turn our attention to the uniform groups, focusing initially on the Scouts and then the splinter group of the Woodcraft Folk.

The roots of scouting trace back to the leadership of Sir Robert Baden-Powell, who was born in 1857 in London. Inheriting a passion for outdoor activities from his father, Baden-Powell organised a camp on Brownsea Island in 1907, marking the experimental beginnings of scouting. In 1908 he released his seminal manual, Scouting for Boys, setting the standard for scouting activities, emphasising self-reliance, good citizenship and moral development. This ignited a global surge in scouting, culminating in the formal establishment of the Boy Scouts Association in 1910. The Scout Law, the Scout Promise and the motto ‘Be Prepared’ became guiding principles. Scouts diversified across urban and rural settings, later including girls through the establishment of the Girl Guides. The global movement now impacts youth worldwide and is currently active in 216 countries and territories, with a global membership of over 31 million, male and female, with two thirds of the international membership in developing countries.

In the UK, scouting played a crucial role in both world wars, offering vital support and exemplifying commitment to community and military service. After the Second World War, adapting to changing societal needs, scouting introduced various sections for different age groups. Today, UK Scouts state that they strive for inclusivity, welcoming participants from diverse backgrounds, although with varying degrees of success. They continue to receive strong support from the British royal family, symbolising British values of character, resilience and grit. Indeed, Bannister (2022) argues that scouting and guiding organisations play a crucial role in the ritual socialisation of young people in Britain, instilling values, norms and identity among their members, contributing to their socialisation into society, and shaping the moral and social development of youth within these organisations and their broader communities.

Introduction

As a mum to two boys, I am concerned about what the future holds for my children. Indeed, as a citizen of the world, I am concerned about that future for all children. The existential threats of climate change are taking hold, though their seriousness appears to be continually largely ignored by many governments, human rights are being limited across many parts of the world, and war in Europe, rising tensions in the Middle East and conflicts across the globe all cause significant concern. But also, within that is a lot of hope, amazing people doing amazing things, many of which I will touch upon in this book. Nonetheless, in this chapter I want to focus on some of the challenges facing our children as citizens of the world, particularly the conceptualisation of childhood, children's rights and how we construct notions of good citizenship within civil society.

In the evolving landscape of childhood citizenship, children are often cast as future stakeholders rather than co-citizens. The UNCRC (1989) sparked a paradigm shift, challenging us all to reconsider the complex nature of children's citizenship – whether it is a right, a developmental milestone or a response to societal demands. Thus, the debate between ‘being’ and ‘becoming’ citizens unfolds: should children be acknowledged as fully enfranchised members of society or do their rights evolve with their cognitive and emotional growth? Advocates for ‘being’ champion children as integral citizens, while the ‘becoming’ perspective recognises maturation, calling for age-sensitive participation. I, along with others, argue that striking a nuanced balance is crucial, recognising children as citizens while accommodating their unique developmental needs. Nonetheless, despite international legal frameworks, critiques highlight children's exclusion from impactful decisions, a challenge exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, character education rises in prominence, emphasising virtues through community action, while critics caution against its potential to divert attention from structural inequalities.

Amid these discussions, a stark reality emerges – threats to civil liberties and the right to protest. Many governments, including my own here in England, propose legislation limiting these rights, creating a hostile climate towards activism.

Introduction

Do you remember the last time you were asked to donate to a school fundraising campaign, maybe as a parent, family member or member of the local community? Maybe it was through baking a cake for the school fair, a Parent Teacher Association (PTA) charity quiz fundraiser, a nonschool uniform day, a sponsored activity or simply in response to a direct request for help? Indeed, barely a week seems to go by without a sponsor form for families to complete, requests for old toys or books, or some larger-scale fundraising campaign. These activities highlight how voluntary, community and philanthropic action is an important and multilayered part of everyday school life, with a combination of parents, grandparents, community members, teachers (and their friends and families!) and children coming together to raise funds and partake in charitable action to support a range of good causes.

Such activity enables schools to draw on a wide range of additional skills and resources, can strengthen a school community and can engage children in philanthropic activity from an early age. Unsurprisingly, voluntary action in education tends to be viewed as a positive and good thing, and is increasingly encouraged within policy and practice. Indeed, fundraising, volunteering and social action in primary schools are becoming progressively central to school activities, with many primary schools keenly seeking to strategically engage and grow this area of activity. Schools increasingly purposefully foster children's philanthropic citizenship in a bid to help cultivate prosocial habits now and in the future, as well as increasingly fundraising for their own needs (Body and Hogg, 2021).

Under this topic, I remember the first time I met the wonderful Amy Neugebauer, Executive Director and Founder of The Giving Square. We both featured on a podcast for the Urban Institute, funded by the Gates Foundation, entitled ‘Teaching Kids How to Give’ (Urban Institute, 2021). We followed up with a chat afterwards and I felt so inspired by the work they were doing – approaching philanthropic conversations with children from a social justice mentality – that we have stayed in touch ever since.

Introduction

I am not the first person, or indeed the last, to seek to question the systems and structures under which our children are raised. Nor am I the first (or last) to seek to critique the role and understanding of philanthropy in our society. Nonetheless, I do hope this book brings a renewed focus on the role of children as change makers through the lens of philanthropy and philanthropic citizenship.

In this book I have sought to question how we raise our children as philanthropic citizens. Philanthropy, often associated with power and privilege, is a subject of intense debate and criticism. While acknowledging these concerns, I argue for a shift in focus towards the central question of what it means to be philanthropic and why it matters. While Chapters 1 and 2 seek to outline some of the concepts and challenges behind these ideas, Chapters 3– 7 focus on the spaces and places in which children can begin their philanthropic and citizenship journey, but, as argued, too often framed in a very particular discourse. Chapters 8 and 9 focus more on engaging children in collective action, community empowerment and change making, while Chapter 10 draws on the voices of civil society leaders to consider: where next? Across these chapters I have sought to challenge traditional views of philanthropic engagement, especially in terms of how children are socialised into philanthropic behaviours, and I have advocated for a model of children's philanthropic citizenship that encourages different ways of engagement rooted in critical thinking, collective action and social justice.

Ultimately this book argues that fostering an active and thriving civil society is crucial for a fair and just world. Therefore, in this last chapter I will outline what I think (some of) the most pressing tasks are that lie ahead of us all within the philanthropic ecosystem:

• 1. We must hold, and indeed defend, the space for children and young people (and us all) to consider, debate, deliberate, voice and act on issues they care about.

• 2. We need to ensure we challenge and continue to challenge institutionalised notions of what is seen as good and selfless, and support children and young people's critical engagement in the causes that matter to them.

Introduction

I’m not sure how it works in other households, but I feel my two sons are constantly asking me for money to give to one charity cause or another, through their school and community activities. I’m always happy to support; however, less common is their ability to give me a detailed description of what cause that money is for, and why or how the fundraising activity will benefit the cause. Sound familiar?

Children have increasingly been drawn into the world of fundraising as donors and are recognised as a valuable source of income for charities, as they contribute funds (normally those of their parents or carers) to partake in activities, such as school dress-up days, sponsored walks and bake sales. Drawing on extensive research on child-focused fundraising and the ethical dimensions of nurturing philanthropic citizenship, in this chapter I scrutinise the involvement of children as donors in national fundraising campaigns like Comic Relief, Kids Heart Challenge and Daffodil Day. Despite the widespread participation, questions arise about the meaningfulness of children's engagement and their status as legitimate donors. I critically explore the framing and ethics surrounding children's often passive participation in fundraising, raising a dual dilemma: first, such activity overlooks children's rights as active citizens, denying their agency in decisions affecting them – a fundamental principle of the UNCRC; second, it embodies tokenistic engagement, reducing giving to a transactional act, failing to meet the needs of children as donors or to appropriately and ethically consider the needs and rights of the beneficiaries.

I then explore the broader role of fundraising in fostering children's philanthropic citizenship. I argue that large-scale fundraising methods targeting children in schools and communities often hinder the development of sustained philanthropic commitment. This commitment should encompass both giving and critical reflection on the societal structures driving charitable efforts. This potentially stands in contrast to organisations primarily focused on transactional fundraising for financial gain, presenting complex ethical considerations. In dissecting the ethical dimensions of child-centric fundraising, I call for a re-evaluation of current practices.

Introduction

In this chapter I argue that the prevalent political and educational narratives involving children and young people's philanthropic behaviours depict philanthropy as an embodiment of virtues and benevolence. While such approaches to philanthropy underscore individual habits and concern for others, they fall short in terms of enabling children to contemplate or deeply engage with the systemic challenges underpinning social issues. This constrains children's growth as philanthropic citizens. Consequently, in this chapter I advocate for an approach that embraces transformative, critically engaged, social justice-oriented philanthropy, which involves probing systemic issues and advocating for collective action.

Across the globe, children and young people frequently demonstrate various forms of philanthropic behaviour, both formal and informal, such as fundraising, contributing to food banks and participating in community clean-up efforts. Indeed, nonprofits long-term sustainability relies on the proactive engagement of younger participants (Gorczyca and Hartman, 2017). Apart from providing invaluable support to numerous deserving causes, the objective is to instil in children enduring ‘habits’ of giving and civic engagement that will persist throughout their lives. Unsurprisingly, families, schools and communities expend considerable effort to bolster the development of children's philanthropic behaviours as an integral part of their citizenship and civic participation (Body et al, 2020, 2022). We commonly refer to this as ‘philanthropic citizenship’, which is defined as ‘a dimension of civic engagement associated with intentions and actions that intend to produce public benefit, for example, volunteering, social action, charitable giving, advocacy, and activism’ (Body, 2024). While there is an extensive body of literature on philanthropy and civic engagement among adolescents and adults (Barrett and Pachi, 2019), it is widely acknowledged that there is a lack of substantive critical discourse and deliberation concerning the civic socialisation and philanthropic education of younger children (Body et al, 2020). Conversely, educational, social and psychological theory and research consistently emphasise middle childhood and the primary school years (covering those aged 4– 11) as pivotal in shaping the development and normalisation of civic, social and political behaviours (Feinstein and Bynner, 2004; van Deth et al, 2011; Peterson, 2016).

Introduction

I have had a long-term interest in child fundraisers. I am not talking about children who become the object of a fundraising campaign, often due to health or medical reasons, or sponsorship of children from afar. Both are worthy topics of our attention. Nonetheless, the focus I wish to settle on here, building on the previous chapter in which I critique the problem of elevating giving of money as the only tool in children's philanthropic toolbox, is children who seek to raise funds independently, though almost always facilitated by family, friends or organisations, such as schools or charities.

To date, this topic has been, almost bizarrely, overlooked by scholars, practitioners and policy makers. A widespread literature search on the topic reveals a significant gap in the literature and understanding. A limited amount of literature discusses how to encourage children to be givers in the fundraising world, but there is almost nothing on the child ‘doers’. Nonetheless, children play a vital role in leading fundraising campaigns for causes they are passionate about. This is widely celebrated by schools, families and the media.

For instance, in response to the Ukraine crisis, Save the Children highlighted the remarkable surge in contributions from children following the onset of the conflict (Hill, 2022), with each young fundraiser generating an average of £1,400, tripling the previous benchmark of £400. Mapping out these examples in an article in The Guardian newspaper, the creativity of child-led fundraising activities is clear (Hill, 2022). Evie and Rowan Lewis, aged 13 and 11, from Ilminster in Somerset raised £2,568 for Save the Children's Ukraine campaign by shaving their heads. Ella and Leo Ketley, aged nine and five, walked 43 miles, the same length of journey undertaken by many Ukrainian families seeking refuge in Poland, raising £1,859. Similarly, eight-year-old Zachary Clare did a 10-mile walk for the charity, raising a further £500. And seven-year-old Veda Plotkin and her three-year-old sibling sold hot chocolate and homemade cookies to passers-by from their doorstep in Haringey, North London, raising £256.

Collectively, these narratives converge to really show the power children can have when harnessed with purpose and directed towards action.