Do they have any, should they have more/less?

good subject I think geg, but can you give some ideas? what kind of rights?

I was thinking about starting a thread similar to this, but I'll let geg direct it for now since he started it.

I believe children should have the right to sit down and shut up.

And to take acid during their abortions.

--PunkDavid

I'm stealing this from a Philosophy forum but;

The right to play for example, if the child is too young to understand the importance of his/her education his/her right to play is infringed upon by a technicality.

they also have the right to fetch the remote for you when you demand it



oh and in my house they have the right to hang up the fucking pretty christmas lights already

They have a right not to be abused, emotionally or physically. Beyond that not much more. If they aren't being abused then the parents, foster parents, orphanage, etc. has every right to raise the child how they see fit.

They should have the right to beat the living tar out of parents who verbally abuse them in public to simply show off for other adults. I can't stand those types of parents. And I don't mean normal repremand, I'm talking about verbal abuse. Name calling, put downs, etc...that sickens me to no end.

What about children who were raised and schooled in Nazi Germany. Or how about the children of very extremest militant Muslim parents. While they may be in no way physically abusing the child they are planting seeds that will more than likely flourish into a destructive dangerous person. But is that a form of abuse is the question I suppose.

I said emotional abuse as well.

an age range would be helpful

A child has every right to choose.

Oh wait, thats women. Nevermind.

There is the UN Declaration of the Rights Of The Child...but the US refuses to ratify it...in fact we're the only country with a government that hasn't done so.

the right not to have their body physically assaulted by any means.

the right to breastfeed.

What kind of rights? I see everyone saying the right not to be abused, etc. but isn't that just a human right in general? What specific rights in regards to children are you talking about?

A child should have the right to grow up as a child. They should have the right to expect the basics of life be provided for them. Enough food, clothing and decent shelter. They should have the right to expect the parents to teach and guide them in their formative years in a healthy, loving and protective manner. They should have the right to know that they are a person and be occasionally asked their opinions. Above all they should have the right to develop as a person, respective of their upbringing, but also independent of such.

Children have the right to be children. They listen to the parents, respect older people, obey the teacher when in school, free communication with their parents, play in the backyard without fear of somebody kidnapping them, break things accidently, pee and miss the toilette (boys only), cry when something hurts, love to be hugged by the one's who love them, raspberry kisses on their stomachs to make them laugh, eat their dinner before dessert, watch cartoons, play video games, imagine the world is at their disposal, pretend to be grown up, immulate their parents, and just be themselves as they are only children once.

Last but not least for the grown-ups. Remember that you were an unperfect child once yourself before you go off the deepend for something petty and trivial.

from the UN's website:

Declaration of the Rights of the Child
Proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 1386(XIV) of 20 November 1959
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have, in the Charter, reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights and in the dignity and worth of the human person, and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas the United Nations has, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth therein, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status,

Whereas the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth,

Whereas the need for such special safeguards has been stated in the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child of 1924, and recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the statutes of specialized agencies and international organizations concerned with the welfare of children,

Whereas mankind owes to the child the best it has to give,

Now therefore,

The General Assembly

Proclaims this Declaration of the Rights of the Child to the end that he may have a happy childhood and enjoy for his own good and for the good of society the rights and freedoms herein set forth, and calls upon parents, upon men and women as individuals, and upon voluntary organizations, local authorities and national Governments to recognize these rights and strive for their observance by legislative and other measures progressively taken in accordance with the following principles:

Principle 1

The child shall enjoy all the rights set forth in this Declaration. Every child, without any exception whatsoever, shall be entitled to these rights, without distinction or discrimination on account of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, whether of himself or of his family.

Principle 2

The child shall enjoy special protection, and shall be given opportunities and facilities, by law and by other means, to enable him to develop physically, mentally, morally, spiritually and socially in a healthy and normal manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity. In the enactment of laws for this purpose, the best interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration.

Principle 3

The child shall be entitled from his birth to a name and a nationality.

Principle 4

The child shall enjoy the benefits of social security. He shall be entitled to grow and develop in health; to this end, special care and protection shall be provided both to him and to his mother, including adequate pre-natal and post-natal care. The child shall have the right to adequate nutrition, housing, recreation and medical services.

Principle 5

The child who is physically, mentally or socially handicapped shall be given the special treatment, education and care required by his particular condition.

Principle 6

The child, for the full and harmonious development of his personality, needs love and understanding. He shall, wherever possible, grow up in the care and under the responsibility of his parents, and, in any case, in an atmosphere of affection and of moral and material security; a child of tender years shall not, save in exceptional circumstances, be separated from his mother. Society and the public authorities shall have the duty to extend particular care to children without a family and to those without adequate means of support. Payment of State and other assistance towards the maintenance of children of large families is desirable.

Principle 7

The child is entitled to receive education, which shall be free and compulsory, at least in the elementary stages. He shall be given an education which will promote his general culture and enable him, on a basis of equal opportunity, to develop his abilities, his individual judgement, and his sense of moral and social responsibility, and to become a useful member of society.

The best interests of the child shall be the guiding principle of those responsible for his education and guidance; that responsibility lies in the first place with his parents.

The child shall have full opportunity for play and recreation, which should be directed to the same purposes as education; society and the public authorities shall endeavour to promote the enjoyment of this right.

Principle 8

The child shall in all circumstances be among the first to receive protection and relief.

Principle 9

The child shall be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty and exploitation. He shall not be the subject of traffic, in any form.

The child shall not be admitted to employment before an appropriate minimum age; he shall in no case be caused or permitted to engage in any occupation or employment which would prejudice his health or education, or interfere with his physical, mental or moral development.

Principle 10

The child shall be protected from practices which may foster racial, religious and any other form of discrimination. He shall be brought up in a spirit of understanding, tolerance, friendship among peoples, peace and universal brotherhood, and in full consciousness that his energy and talents should be devoted to the service of his fellow men.


http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/385c2a ... enDocument

was the last revision of it...if you look throught he list you will find the United States curiously abesnt from the list of signees, this is the last revision ( 8 ) could find on the UN's website


ok, it seems it has been changed to the The CONVENTION on the Rights of the Child and more tings have been added to it, much too long to cut and paste here but here's the link

http://www.unicef.org/crc/fulltext.htm


on one of the pages here
http://www.unicef.org/crc/convention.htm

it says:

The Convention reflects this global consensus and, in a very short period of time, it has become the most widely accepted human rights treaty ever. It has been ratified by 192 countries; only two countries have not ratified: The United States and Somalia

btw, it was created in 89...

I'm not taking ANY advice from the UN these days.


One thing I think needs to be considered is allowing minors who are employed to vote.

'these days' would be the key phrase, as i said this convention was first created in '89. There have been new things added in'02 but those were for "the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography" surely that is advice we could all agree on?