Children are entitled to a host of rights cutting across the socio-economic and cultural fabric. These are contained in various international and regional conventions such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child among many more. The concept of childhood is socially constructed therefore childhood is neither a natural nor universal feature of human groups but rather a specific cultural component of given societies. The paper is based on a qualitative study in which purposively selected 40 Indigenous Knowledge Systems experts and 11 social workers drawn from Mozambique and Zimbabwe participated in the study. The article explores the Vatsonga people’s markers of childhood drawing lessons for social workers working with indigenous groups. The findings revealed that childhood among the Vatsonga is not determined by chronological numeric age but by various markers such as maturity and rites of passage. Childhood was romanticised by the Vatsonga as a period of innocence and irrationality. Children were viewed as of great value as they represent the posterity of society and a gift from their ancestors. We conclude that a people’s construction of childhood has a bearing on upholding child rights hence it is important for social workers to have an understanding of their clients’ views on childhood to effectively prevent child rights violations.

儿童有权享有一系列跨越社会经济和文化结构的权利。这些内容包含在各种国际和区域公约中，例如《世界人权宣言》、《儿童权利公约》和《非洲儿童权利与福利宪章》等。童年的概念是社会建构的，因此童年既不是人类群体的自然特征也不是普遍特征，而是特定社会的特定文化组成部分。该论文基于一项定性研究，其中有目的地选择了来自莫桑比克和津巴布韦的 40 名土著知识系统专家和 11 名社会工作者参与了这项研究。这篇文章探讨了 Vatsonga 人的童年标记，为与土著群体一起工作的社会工作者吸取教训。调查结果表明，瓦特松加人的童年不是由实足年龄决定的，而是由成熟度和成年仪式等各种标志决定的。童年被 Vatsonga 浪漫化为纯真和非理性的时期。儿童被视为具有重要价值，因为他们代表着社会的后代，是他们祖先的馈赠。我们的结论是，一个人的童年建构与维护儿童权利有关，因此社会工作者了解他们的案主对童年的看法以有效防止侵犯儿童权利是很重要的。童年被 Vatsonga 浪漫化为纯真和非理性的时期。儿童被视为具有重要价值，因为他们代表着社会的后代，是他们祖先的馈赠。我们的结论是，一个人的童年建构与维护儿童权利有关，因此社会工作者了解他们的案主对童年的看法以有效防止侵犯儿童权利是很重要的。童年被 Vatsonga 浪漫化为纯真和非理性的时期。儿童被视为具有重要价值，因为他们代表着社会的后代，是他们祖先的馈赠。我们的结论是，一个人的童年建构与维护儿童权利有关，因此社会工作者了解他们的案主对童年的看法以有效防止侵犯儿童权利是很重要的。