Suitable education and perceptions of childhood

Is a definition of suitable education linked to how children and what constitutes childhood are percieved?

Initial thoughts...

I've been reading quite a bit about children's rights and children's citizenship recently and an interesting argument that I have come accross is that there appears to be a prevailing view of children as citizens in waiting.  This view, it is suggested, is borne from a dominant developmental psychology perspective of children as adults in the making and therefore their experiences and perceptions are constantly considered as rooted in and related to their future and their future potential rather than who they are and what they are experiencing in the present.  Because of this view of children as citizens in waiting, consultation with children and their participation in decision making is limited based upon their perceived lack of maturity as well as the desire to protect them from making potentially disasterous decisions due to lack of experience.

The problem is how to balance the legitimate concerns to protect children with the inclusion of children as citizens with the right to agency.