Children's Rights: A Discussion

The world continues to witness manifestations of serious problems like sexual exploitation and violence in a wide range of social setups. Children have not been exempt from these problems. According to UNICEF, over one million children are trafficked annually for sexual exploitation, about 300,000 are child soldiers in over 30 conflicts in the world, nearly 15% of children die prior to the age of 5 in at least 25 countries and 121 million primary school children drop out before completion of their studies (Waterston & Mann, 2005). Essentially, this is despite the United Nations Convention on the rights of the Child (UNCRC) providing clear child protection guarantees. Evidence suggests that regressions have been witnessed in some parts of the world with children in recent years being victims of egregious children rights violations in places like the Congo (Lachman et al., 2002). Even in the developed world, children have suffered violations including sexual abuse and trafficking. In other instances, abuse has been perpetrated by family members and relatives. Consequently, there has been increasing global attention on the urgency to ensure greater enforcement of children’s rights. In a fast-changing world where the role of national borders has been undermined, state authority watered down, and technological advances have taken hold, enforcement of children’s rights faces novel challenges and new opportunities. After all, individual state action has become more ineffective beyond national boundaries. Intergovernmental arrangements ought to reinforce community-based approaches to advancing children’s rights 

Problem 

The concept of children’s rights has diverse and often contrary meanings. To some scholars, children’s rights are merely claims or entitlements that find their basis in legal or moral rules. To others, children’s rights are important legal protections with equal force to the current human rights regime. Regardless of perspective, children’s rights represent a recognition that children have certain vulnerabilities and needs that require special attention for them to lead a life of respect and dignity (Sarah, 2007). This recognition is embodied by the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in1989 (Livingstone & Bulger, 2014). The convention has a number of articles relating to political and civil liberties, which are generally considered absolute while others dealing with social, cultural, and economic rights are not. They are to be attained gradually as a country’s level of development advances (Waterston & Mann, 2005). In a good number of developing countries, the realization of this latter category of rights remains a distant dream given the extent of deprivation caused by poverty. 

In general, the Convention on the Rights of the Child requires that all children below the age of 18 be accorded the right to participate in line with article 12 and other relevant provisions. The text extensively provides for a wide array of protections including against sexual exploitation. Additionally, it also encourages the participation of children in social processes to develop the capabilities. Rather than being perceived as burdens in decision-making processes, they are said to bring on board numerous benefits for themselves and adults (Landsdown, 2011). The reasons advanced for failure to embrace child participation are remarkably similar across the world. Children lack the intellectual competencies for involvement and lack the knowledge and proper judgment for decision making. In addition, requiring their involvement is placing too heavy a burden on them since parents are more qualified to determine the children’s need. Lastly, giving them a voice will invariably lead to a proliferation of demands and even bad behavior, and participation will expose them to harm (Ruiz-Casares, Collins, Tisdall, & Grover, 2017). Years of research have, however, demonstrated these concerns are not borne out by evidence. Repeatedly, children engagement has demonstrated that they have their views and emotions, and that expression of their perspectives can enrich decision-making (Ruiz-Casares, Collins, Tisdall, & Grover, 2017). Effective measures through policy interventions are recommended to ensure there is progress from rhetoric to substantive child protection and participation in keeping with the fundamental principles of human dignity. 

The UNCRC, as well as other conventions, place responsibility for the protection of children’s rights primarily on the state. Article 41 of the convention makes two kinds of obligations on the state with respect to children’s rights. Positive rights require the state to offer goods and services to ensure children substantively exercise their freedom. These include the provision of security, health care, and education among others. Negative rights, on the other hand, entail obligations to desist from certain actions such as torture of interference in the freedom of worship or expression (Waterston & Mann, 2005). In general, negative rights underscore the need for the state to adhere to the ethical principles of non-maleficence, autonomy, and justice. 

It is, however, worth highlighting the varying cultural differences that influence the perception of these negative rights by different states. For instance, non-interference of the state is primarily emphasized by societies with strong philosophies of independence and personal responsibility. Positive rights, on the other hand, are largely based on the principle of beneficence which requires one not just desist from causing harm but also to do good (Waterston & Mann, 2005). These fundamental principles, it is argued, ought to extend to even children. 

Nevertheless, despite these instruments being in place for a while now, it is hardly the case that children’s rights have always been protected. This is not to say progress has not been made. Many more children have access to educational opportunities and therefore the opportunity to nurture their minds. Heath care, though undermined by poverty and inequality in many parts of the world, has largely been extended too more people (Pemberton, D, Nandy, Pantazis, & Townsend, 2007). But these gains have been realized in the midst of reversals in many parts of the world. Sexual exploitation, it has been seen, remains a pervasive problem with far-reaching roots. Human trafficking has not discriminated against children with them and young adults constituting a significant portion of the total number of trafficked people (Lachman et al., 2002). 

Some of the abuses suffered by children are based on superstition and tradition and in other instances religious and other beliefs, for instance, on the developmental process of children. It is therefore not always the case that violations of children’s rights are intentional (Reynaert, Bourverne-de-Bie, & Vendelde, 2009). Physical violence in the form of beating is one form of violence that is considered in some communities to be disciplining a child. Such acts are often associated with serious bodily pain and injuries often with long-lasting consequences. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that family or close relatives have perpetrated a good number of these violations. Indeed, this is often reinforced by a misleading belief by adults that they are well aware of the child’s long-term welfare and they have unlimited control over their affairs. However, the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) has favored a replacement of parent’s rights over children with parental responsibilities. 

It might be easy to imagine that the problem of children’s rights is confined to developing countries. After all the United States just like most other developed countries has elaborate mechanisms to ensure the protection of children’s rights. The Department of children services ensures the protection of children especially those in abusive family setups. And yet these institutional mechanisms at times have only limited impact guaranteeing the rights of children due to capacity challenges, weak policy or legal frameworks, disregard for existing policy prescriptions and the transnational nature of some of these challenges (Livingstone & Bulger, 2014). In certain instances, the developed world has not proven to be beyond adopting policies injurious to the rights of children (Lachman et al., 2002). For instance, the recent policy of separating children from their parents at the Mexican American border adopted by the United States points to children rights abuses perpetrated by a developed country. Given the multiplicity of activities likely to lead to violations of their rights and their more pronounced vulnerability, it is important to think of novel solutions that can consolidate made progress while addressing newer concerns. 

Solution 

Since children’s rights remain an unattained global goal, developing possible solutions is an important goal for social scientists, experts, activists, and policymakers. This is an especially urgent task given that maltreatment of children has implications for today and the future. In other words, children’s well-being is intimately linked with prospects of countries and human society as a whole. In a globalized world, concerted efforts are required within and among states. This is because countering problems like child trafficking requires the collective involvement of states otherwise transnational crime syndicates are likely to take advantage of policy loopholes in some countries (Pemberton, D, Nandy, Pantazis, & Townsend, 2007). Furthermore, crippling the muscle, especially the financial capacity of these actors, requires cooperation at a transnational level. Intergovernmental cooperation in this respect may also be important in imposing sanctions on non-compliant states which fail to guarantee the fundamental rights of children. To this extent, striking partnerships in the form of treaties and conventions are crucially important for any headway. While frameworks like the UNCRC make far-reaching guarantees on children’s rights, modest success has been attained due to a lackluster performance at the state level (Landsdown, 2011). Piling pressure on violators of such agreements is an immediate task. The fact that considerable headway has been made in enforcing other frameworks like International Humanitarian Law to the extent that it relates to conduct of warfare is proof that similar effort with respect to UNCRC can yield fruits. A forum, probably under the auspices of the United Nations through UNICEF, can be organized to bring together government actors who canvass the measures necessary based on the progress already made. More importantly, states need to decide the penalties applicable to would-be violators of the agreements. This is especially important given that implementation of the convention has been the principal challenge to the attainment of children’s rights in the last three decades. 

The rise of information technology can also add to the realization of children’s rights. There is no straightforward connection between social transformation and digital transformation. However, modern digital technology has far-reaching potential to transform children’s lives. Already in high-income societies where information and communication technology is well developed, an increasing number of children are going online to play, learn, participate and socialize (Livingstone & Bulger, 2014). They are able to keep connected with their families and communities in ways that would be impossible in the past. Notably, this is a game changer for parents who are now able to participate in the growth of their children despite being a distance away. This revolution is now taking even in the developing world where ICT innovations are transforming the nature and delivery of curricula, and in consequence, making it more accessible to others. While it is indeed true that unmanaged digital technology may have pernicious effects on children, given the presumed degree of user responsibility, safeguard measures can be adopted to ensure technology is only used for beneficial purposes (Livingstone & Bulger, 2014). Supporting digital penetration is, therefore, an urgent task for educators, parents, policymakers and others stakeholders concerned about child development. In more recent years, information technology has had a potent unintended consequence: that of highlighting the plight of children from across the world and therefore instigating a timely response. 

Evaluation of Evidence 

The evidentiary basis for the proffered solutions is quite sound. Much of the work cited here is from peer-reviewed articles of scholarly nature. Information is also gotten from independent entities like UNICEF, which have no particular inclinations that would lead to bias. Furthermore, information from primary sources such as the United Nations Convention for Child Rights is also used. This enhances validity by overcoming over-reliance on secondary sources that may suffer interpretational bias. 

While reliance on secondary sources, even of scholarly nature, may invariably suffer from biases inherent in human thinking, mitigation can be done through the use of more than one source. A number of sources were, therefore, used in developing the solutions. The likelihood of bias in the presented evidence is also minimized by the fact that individual sources are informed by studies, expert opinion, and facts as opposed to personal opinion. The intended audience of these sources is not the emotional reader but the student keen on drawing evidentiary patterns. The case for the absence of bias in this instance is, therefore, rather strong. Limitations, however, exist in that the sources offer only specific approaches without adequate perusal of alternative approaches. This necessitates analysis of different sources to acquire a variegated approach to the phenomena under review. 

Ethical Outcomes of Solution 

The idea of rights sits uncomfortably within the ethical theory. The basis of rights, particularly who confers and who enforces them, and the circumstances under which they can be suspended remain a deeply contested topic. Analysts tend to view the emphasis on rights as a reflection of western liberal individualism. Instruments such as the UNCRC place obligations to enforce rights on the state. However, successful protection of children will demand inter-state cooperation, which is often missing. To some scholars, many of the world’s problems cannot be resolved without subordination of sovereignty claims and rising the recognition that human societies are tied to each other. With respect to technology, serious moral concerns arise especially as people forfeit their roles as adults and leave technology to attend to children’s needs. Furthermore, there are indispensable concerns that technology, when improperly used, could damage the moral character of children and undermine such virtues as hard work. The violent and pornographic material has been shown to have far-reaching mental effects on children. Research has demonstrated that there is a strong association between the perception of media messages and observed behavior more so amongst children. Deviance and violence are some of the more conspicuous effects of exposure to such material (Earles, Alexander, Johnson, Liverpool, & McGhee, 2002). However, limiting exposure to such content can have many desirable outcomes including increased exposure to knowledge, different cultures, and enhance interaction. Children are able to access online content and undertake online classes in areas with major infrastructure challenges. The result is a more informed and nuanced view of the world, with an adequate appreciation of different cultural and religious backgrounds. Combined with community support, this exposure leads to an enhanced understanding of self. 

Conclusion 

Continued violation of children’s rights in many parts of the world is a stain on human conscience. Such an innocent and yet vulnerable social category ought to receive the most attainable levels of child protection. This has, however, not been the case as children have faced abuses within families, by relatives, and community members and even by the state. Guarantee of their rights is, therefore, an immediate concern for all of society. While frameworks like the UNCRC offer wonderful guides in this respect, its enforcement has been limited and, therefore, a modicum of success has been achieved in ensuring the fundamental rights of children. Moving forward, innovative solutions that respond to the current milieu are required. Inter-state cooperation and tapping into the far-reaching potential of information technology is an important starting point. 

References  

Earles, K. A., Alexander, R., Johnson, M., Liverpool, J., & McGhee, M. (2002). Media influences on children and adolescents: violence and sex.  Journal of The national medical association ,  94 (9), 797. 

Lachman, P., Poblete, X., Ebigbo, P. O., Nyandiya-Bundy, S., Bundy, R. P., Kilian, B., et al. (2002). Challenges facing child protection. Child Abuse Neglect, 587-617. 

Landsdown, G. (2011). Every child's to right to be heard. A resource guide on the UN Committee on the rights of the child general comment No.12. 

Livingstone, S., & Bulger, M. (2014). A global research agenda for children's rights in the digital age. Journal of Children and Media , http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2014.961496 . 

Pemberton, S., D, G., Nandy, S., Pantazis, C., & Townsend, P. (2007). Child rights and child poverty: Can the international framework of children's rights be used to improve child survival rates? PLoS Med , https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040307 . 

Reynaert, D., Bourverne-de-Bie, M., & Vendelde, S. (2009). A Review of children’s rights literature since the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child. Childhood , 16(4). 

Ruiz-Casares, M., Collins, T., Tisdall, K., & Grover, S. (2017). Children’s rights to participation and protection in international development and humanitarian interventions: nurturing a dialogue. The International Journal of Human Rights , 1-13. 

Sarah, T. O. (2007). Defining rights: Children’s rights in theory and in practice. He Kupu, https://www.hekupu.ac.nz/sites/default/files/2017-11/Defining%E2%80%93rights-%E2%80%93Children%E2%80%99s%E2%80%93rights%E2%80%93in%E2%80%93theory%E2%80%93and%E2%80%93in%E2%80%93practice.pdf . 

Waterston, T., & Mann, N. (2005). Children’s rights. Child Health Series , 171-179.