The Government are committed to respect your right to preserve your nationality and identity.
	If you are over the age of 16 and adopted you can make enquiries and may be able to find out who your birth parents are.
	If you do decide to do this it is really important that you think things through and talk to someone about it. Your local authority will be able to help you.

	If you have to be separated from your parents against your will it can only happen if it is in your own best interests. If it does happen, then someone who is an interested party must be given the opportunity to take part in proceedings and have their views heard.
	If you do get separated from your parents, there is a right for you to keep in touch regularly unless it is thought that such contact would be harmful to you. Someone who has an interest in your welfare might be your gran or aunt or someone else.
	There are organisations you can talk to about your situation if you are separated from your parents against your will. (On the back of this booklet you will find details about where to obtain the booklet, You Matter. You Matter explains what happens when your parents may be splitting up or divorcing.)

	Governments must take steps to stop children being taken out of the country illegally.
	Babies must now have their own passports with pictures.

	Children and young people have the right to express a view about things that affect them.
	The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 includes the right to be heard on major issues as one of its principles.
	Article 12 is a youth-led charity supported by Save the Children Fund in Edinburgh. For further information, please call the telephone number at the back of this booklet.

	As they mature, children have the right to freedom of thought and religion. Parents have a duty to guide their children on these important matters.

	Children have a right to join organisations and to meet with each other. They can also take part in meetings and peaceful gatherings. However, any gathering must not be against the law and, by taking part, children must not affect other people’s rights.
	Local authorities and voluntary youth clubs are active all over Scotland.
	Contact your local education authority for a list of groups active in your area.

	Children have the right to their own space and privacy. This may include not having their personal letters opened or anyone listening to their personal phone calls.
	In Scotland, the law will allow for some interference with this right where it is thought that you or someone else may be in some kind of danger.

	Both parents have the main responsibilities for bringing up their children but the Government are expected to recognise that some parents may need help to care properly for their children.
	The Government give child benefit and other types of financial help to assist parents to look after their children.

	Children must be kept safe from violence and they must be kept safe from harm. They must be given proper care by those looking after them.
	If you think anyone is in real physical danger, you can report it to someone in authority like the police, a social worker, a teacher or an adult that you trust.

	If children cannot live with their family, they must be properly looked after in some other way, for example, by another family or in a children’s home. The child’s religion, race, culture and language must all be considered when a new home is being chosen for the child.
	This might mean putting them with people of the same or similar background. Sometimes though it is just too difficult, and people are placed as close to their own background as possible.