The History and Current Questions of Children‘s Rights

I. The history of Children‘s Rights – a general view

• For many centuries the history of education was a history of violence. • Children were comitted to strict obedience against their parents , and

were seen as the property of their father legally.

• Corporal punishments were common (parental home, school, reformatories) • Children were seen as not mature and as not ready, subordinated

creatures what allowed adults to ignore the needs and wishes of the children.

„A child is ment to be seen and not heard!“

1. Children as objects – the centuries before the children‘s rights movement

„The mind of the child has to be kept in a cheerfull mood and educators have to avoid pampering, which makes touchy, angry and grumpy, as well as excessive harshness, which causes timidity and a slavish mind.“

Platon

2. The (modern) history of Children‘s Rights started in the era of enlightenmend.

Recognition of childhood as an independent period of life

Pestalozzi Humboldt Fröbel

History of Children’s RIghtsHistory of Children’s RIghts

Human right‘s declaration of the French Revolution (1789):„All men are born free and with equal rights and stay in this condition for their entire lifes“ (Art. 1)

Claims to acknowledge specific needs of children. Claims to differentiate between the criminal law for adults and for

adolescents..

restriction: Alienation of labour (wage labour) and the development of nuclear

families caused problems in child care (negligence because of work).

Development of public welfare and legal protection as repressive.

Human rights were the rights of MEN!

Janusz Korczak

3. Roots of the Human Right´s Movement in the (late) 19th century

Ellen Key

• Call for own rights for children.

• Criticism of the (authoritarian) school system and phsyical chaning. • A child has to be respected as an own individual. It´s not the result of parental expectations.

• Testing of educational models like „child courts“ in orphanage.

• Basis for all: to have respect for the child.

• (Deported to Treblinka and killed togehter with 192 children in 1942)

progressive educationCritics on the mentality of depression and slavish obedience (Nazi-Education!). Promotion of own thinking, respect for each other + social learning.

• 1902: Proclamation of the 20th century as the Century of the Child.

Alexander S. Neill

• 1924 : Founding of Summerhill-residential school in Leiston, as the first democratic school of the world.

Commitment to self-adjusting education that takes the children into consideration....their ideas and feelings.

• No compulsory education! Children had the possibility to overrule adults.

Eglantyne Jebb

• Founder of the „Save the Children Fund“. (V. d. background was the unhappiness of many children of the postwar period.)

• 1923: First publishing of Declaration of the Child Right´s in the magazine „The World‘s Children“.

Transmission of the document to the League of Nations in Geneva:„I´m sure of claiming special rights for children and that we have to work for

the public admission of these rights.“

1924: Adoption of „Children‘s Charter“ by the League of Nations in Geneva (Declaration of Geneva).

Without legal engagement

Lost all legitimacy through the breakup of the League of Nations in 1946.

1949: With coming into effect of the constitution of the Federal Republik of Germany, rights for children become binding (Art. 2: Free development of the individual; Art. 6: Protection of the family).

1945: Founding of UNESCO (Right to Education).

1946: Founding of UNICEF, to support the child victims of the 2nd World War.

1948: Universal Declaration of Human Right´s (Art. 25: Right to families of standard living support; Art. 26: Right to Education) With the founding of the UN Declaration of 1924 is formally waived.

4. International conventions and national stay/responsibility

1959: On 20th September the general assembly of the United Nations adopted the Declaration of the Rights of a child.

Precise rights like right to a name, citizenship and und gratis education.

Legal basis is less binding than Declaration of Geneva.

Ever since, the 20th September is the Day of the Child.

1979: International Year of the Child of UNO.

1989: Declaration of UN- Child Convention at the Day of the Child.Binding international law of nations, to advocate active for the welfare of a child.Conclusion and harmonisation of many children right´s documents according to international law in one basic document. Later added trough more protocols with topics about involvement of children in armed conflicts (protocol of children soliders) and trade, prostitution, pornographie of children (2002).

I. The history of Children‘s Rights – a general view

Excursus 1: Democratic education on the basis of humanistic pedagogy

Carl Rogers Charlotte Bühler Rudolf Dreikurs

Basically children are equal humans!

But children don´t have the same rights like adults.

The responsibility of important decisions is still in the hands of adults (parents).

Excursus 2: Pedagogical child rights movements

John Holt Richard Farson Alice Miller

Children and adults are hard-line seen as equal.

In any case children have the right to make own decisions. Not only violence as educational instrument has to be refused, also each claim of education (Adults are no educators but„companions“).

5. UN child- right´s convention of 20th Nov. 1989Occurred in September 1990 as a legally binding international document in force.

By now ratified trough 193 UN-Member States. Exceptions: Somalia and US.

Those who spare the rod hates his son, / who loves him, takes him early for breeding. (Prov. 13:24)Who loves his son, always holding the stick ready for him so he can be happy in the end. (Sir, 30, 1)

Germany ratified the convention on 5th April 1992. Reservation:

„[The convention can´t ] be constructed in a way, that the illegal entry or illegal stay of an alien in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany can be allowed there.“

+ Germany still claims the right to treat aliens and natives unequal.

I. The history of Children‘s Rights – a general view

5. The rights to children according to the UN-Convention„In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration .“ (Art. 3 par. 1)

Right to: non-violental education

Prevention of exploitationEducation

Development of the individual

Protection of family

Care

Food

Participation

Expression of Opinion

Protection of physical, mental, sexual violence

Freedom Name + citizienship

Despite of many international efforts it´s still not clear how the claimed or the specified rights can

become real and can be controlled.

II. Current questions (and problems) of Children Right´s

1. General and basic problems: Many phrases of the Child Convention are formulated vaguely and can be interpreted in

different ways. Particularly the rights to decision making of children (e.g. in terms of questions about their future) are not cleary settled. Children can´t sue for their own rights; the realisation of the convention is still in the responsibility of adults. The discussion of children right´s is primarly in expert groups, while the awareness of children rights topics in the public is still low.

In politics of the day topics of children right´s are uncommon (you get less votes with this topics).

Usually the discrimination of children right´s doesn´t cause consequences.

2. Concrete problem areas/ Sections of breach of children right´s :

Abuse of children Genital mutilation

Child soliders

Child labour

Poverty of children

Trade with children(Prostitution and Pornography)

2. Concrete problem areas/ Sections of breach of children right´s :

Current figures: Worldwide more than 6 million children die of hunger– more than ever before in

the human history. (→ Correlation of consumerism in rich countries of the world and impoverishment in countries of the south.)

More than 3.500 children die at the outcome of abuse and disregard only in OECD-Nations annual.

Worldwide the number of killed children and youths for 2007 is evaluated to more than 70 000. In Sub-Saharan Africa + in Middle East more than 3 millionen girls will be trimmed

annualy.

Approximately 150 million girls und 73 million boys under the age of 18 are forced to sexual intercourse, approx. 1,8 million to prostitution. (→ The „market“ of children prostitution + pornography has an annual volume of sales of approx. 12 billion US-Dollar = the third biggest market (after weapons and drug traffic!)

About 6 million children live in debt bondage (slavery of children), approx. 150million children between 5 and 14 years have to work.

2. Concrete problem areas/ Sections of breach of children right´:

Current figures :

Worldwide more than 100 million children don´t visit school (2/3 of them live in disputed and crisis regions, mainly in Africa und Asia).

More than 100 million children are (homeless) street children. (Metropolises!)

3. Facts and figures of the situaion in Germany:

Kinderarmut

2,6 million children are dependent on welfare (almost every sixth child!). Endangered are particularly children of single parents and foreigners.

About 80.000 youths leave school without certification (huge part of migrant children).

Childs of refugees just have limited access to medical care; school attendance or the start of a vocational training are maken difficult. About 150.000 children under the age of 15 are suffering under physical treatment trough their parents; every week 2 kids are dying as a result of abuse and disregard. Germany is a thrive market for international trade and pornography of children. (Approx. 50.000 people consume it regularly!)

Investments in the welfare of the child– contrary to the basic rules of Art. 3 of the UN-Convention – don´t have priority! Germany´s investments in the section of early infantile education are one of the fewest in the 21 developed countries.

Up to 2.500 minors live partly on the streets.

Is the UN children convention just paper,

impressive declarations of intent, political lip service

without real content/matter?

4. UNICEF´s demand for children in Germany: Children right´s have to be fixed in the constitution! (As a signal, that the welfare of a child is the main task as defined by the UN-Convention.)

Development of a national agenda against poverty of children!

Improvement of equal opportunities in education! (Reduction of discrimination of children from illiterated families and improvement of supplies for children with migration background!)

Equal treatment of child refugees! (Children right´s can´t be dependend on the status as an foreigner.)Improvement of participating possibilities for children! (Active education in democracy)

Reset of reservation against the Children Right´s Convention!

Thank you for listening!!