well-being of young children. 1 It is to be hoped this cumulative message will be taken on board by those conducting the Primary Review 2 into the condition and future of primary education in England. There is an urban crisis that cannot be solved by schools alone. This book gets that message over very clearly and should be essential reading for all those considering the future of our primary school system. Bob Curtis Ph.D. student Centre for Research into Equity and Diversity in Education School of Education University of Nottingham Empowering Children: Children’s Rights Education as a Pathway to Citizenship by Brian Howe and Katherine Covell Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005 ISBN: 0802038573, 245 pp, £28.00 (hb). During the 1990s, as a result of the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the discourse on children’s rights gained in intensity. In recent years, however, those debates have become inaudible or lacking in fervour. This has led to an impasse in which polemic exchange has vir- tually disappeared from academic and policy circles. Fortunately, Howe and Covell are successful in inspiring a renewed interest in this area. The central tenet of Empowering Children: Children’s Rights Education as a Pathway to Citizenship is that, in order for children’s rights to be taken seriously, chil- dren need to be acknowledged as citizens. In their words: Children are not generally recognized as citi- zens in their own right. As in the citizenship literature, schools hold onto an adult centric and exclusionary conception of citizenship in which children are seen as future or becoming- citizens rather than as present or being-citizens (p. 82). For Howe and Covell, the exclusion of chil- dren from genuine civic participation inhib- its the successful implementation of children’s rights education. Moreover, they argue that children’s rights education can constitute a supportive mechanism whereby positive values can be instilled in children. Data from the authors’ studies reveal that teaching children about their rights — even in elementary schools — is beneficial. They emphasise that educating children about their rights has numerous beneficial out- comes, including their acquiring skills that foster civic leadership and personal responsi- bility. The authors also explore psychological constructs such as self-esteem and self- worth, postulating that learning about one’s rights increases respect both for oneself and others. These data underscore the importance of the democratic classroom and the oppor- tunities for critical thinking in small groups. Despite empirical evidence for these conten- tions, additional research is necessary in order to articulate the various factors and processes associated with children’s rights education and developmental outcomes. This is particularly critical since some believe that introducing children to complex issues sim- ply inhibits them from having a ‘normal’ childhood. For example, some do not view the model of global child citizenship as a good cause for young children and youth, believing that individuals like Craig Kiel- burger of Free the Children are victims of ‘hurried child syndrome’ and not exemplary child citizens. A greater exploration of these tensions would have provided some attention to current child development issues, which simultaneously promote democratic approa- ches with children while acknowledging the inherent vulnerabilities of young people. 1 Modern life leads to more depression among children Daily Telegraph letter 12/09/2006 2 Independently funded and claimed to be the most comprehen- sive review of English primary education since the Plowden report of 1967. Available at http://www.primaryreview.org.uk [Accessed 20 January 2007] 232 Book Reviews Ó 2007 The Author(s) CHILDREN & SOCIETY Vol. 21, 228–236 (2007) Journal compilation Ó 2007 National Children’s Bureau