Children as Equals

Book excerpt: Children as Equals explores the subject of children's rights. The twelve chapters are written by authors whose disciplines include history, law, philosophy, psychology, and sociology. The book explores such questions as: What is a child? How did the movement for the rights of the child originate, and what is its relation to the human rights movement? What do we mean by rights? To which rights are children entitled? Should their rights vary with age and competency? What about the rights of parents? The complete text of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), to which nearly all the chapters refer, is reproduced in an Appendix. Several chapters examine the implications of two of the Convention's fundamental principles: "the best interests of the child" and "the evolving capacities of the child." Four chapters focus on the legal status of children in the United States, especially in connection with custody and abuse. The book aims to introduce the subject of children's rights to a general educated audience, and provides a thoughtful resource for academics, legal professionals, counseling practitioners, policymakers, lawmakers, and parents.