Child Human Rights Home



Child Human Rights Home

Over 250,000 children are involved in armed conflicts around the world (Briggs, 2005) and over 126 million people work in the worst forms of child labor (“Anti-Slavery,” 2007). As a country that likes to use the motto “No Child Left Behind” this is a subject in which awareness must be raised.

Convention on the Rights of the Child

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is an internationally agreed set of non-negotiable standards and obligations that provide protection and support for the rights of children, which is generally defined as under the age of 18. Nations that ratify the convention are bound to it by international law. Currently, every United Nations member country has ratified it, except Somalia and the United States. The United States has, in fact, lobbied against measures designed to protect children, most recently against efforts to stop the use of child soldiers ("Amnesty International," 2008). A primary reason given for the United States failure to support the CRC has been a concern of its conflicts with the United States Constitution and possible conflict with parent rights (Klicka & Estrada, 2007).

The rights in the CRC fall into the following four broad categories:

(1) subsistence rights

(2) development rights

(3) protection rights:

(4) participation rights

To see the CRC document click on the following link:

The following link provides definitions to key concepts and terms in the CRC: .

To help stem the growing abuse and exploitation of children worldwide, the United Nations General Assembly in 2000 adopted two Optional Protocols to the Convention to increase the protection of children from involvement in armed conflicts and from sexual exploitation. The Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict establishes 18 as the minimum age for compulsory recruitment and requires States to do everything they can to prevent individuals under the age of 18 from taking a direct part in hostilities. The Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography draws special attention to the criminalization of these serious violations of children's rights and emphasizes the importance of fostering increased public awareness and international cooperation in efforts to combat them.

A protocol is ‘optional’ because it is not automatically binding on States that have already ratified the original treaty. The obligations in the protocol are additional and may be more demanding than those in the original convention, and so States must independently choose whether or not to be bound by a protocol. Accordingly, an optional protocol has its own ratification mechanism independent of the treaty it complements. Generally, only States that have already agreed to be bound byan original treaty may ratify its optional protocols. The Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child do however permit non-States parties to ratify or accede to them. For example, the United States, which has not ratified the Convention, has ratified both of the Optional Protocols. States must ratify each of the Protocols following the same procedure required when ratifying the Convention (“UNICEF,” 2008).

To view the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict click on the following link: .

To view the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography click on the following link: .

Child Labor

The western world cannot claim to have its hands clean when it comes to child human rights issues and not just because of ignoring the plight of our world’s children. The statistics on Child Labor can be astounding. There may be as many as 409 million children laborers worldwide (Levison, Hoek, Larn, & Duryea, 2007). In addition, to being neglected educational opportunities, children forced to work in this manner are often working in slave-like conditions that are harmful to their physical and emotional development (North & Smietana, 2008).

The highest number of child laborers are in the Asia/Pacific region, where over 122 million children work. Sub-Sahara Africa has the highest proportion (26%) of child laborers (“Child Rights,” 2008). In India alone there are over 15 million children being exploited in what has been identified as bonded child laborers; a number that continues to grow. These are children who are forced into servitude to pay off the debts of their parents or relatives. The debts are usually incurred to pay for basic necessities that most of us in the western world take for granted, such as food and medical care. Multilateral lending institutions, such as the World Bank play a role in this ongoing exploitation of minors. While promoting export-orienting industrialization, like the type India’s bonded children are involved in, they turn a blind eye to this modern-day form of slavery (Tucker & Ganesan, 1997). In addition, multinational corporation’s, such as Nike, and Reebok, continue to subcontract to companies that employ children, often at substandard wages or no wages at all (Bhattacharya, 2007).

Finally, we, as consumers are also turning a blind eye to this modern slavery. How many of us are questioning retailers, such as Wal-mart, about where their soccer balls are coming from or refusing to buy their products, because there is a good possibility some of those soccer balls were made by child laborers? How many of us have given up eating chocolate, because some of the extracts may have been made be child slaves in Africa? The majority of us do not know about these situations. We do not take the time to track these details. Would we accept this as a defendable alibi from our public leaders or our educators?

Child Trafficking

Trafficking of children is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of children for the purpose of exploitation. It includes forcing children into prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery, or servitude. Trafficking can also include such things as illicit international adoption, trafficking for early marriage, or recruitment as child soldiers (“Wikipedia,” 2008). Due to its hidden nature, getting accurate statistic is nearly impossible. The following statistics may represent an underestimation of global trafficking. Each year, an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 men, women, and children are trafficked across international borders (“National Crime,” 2005).

While American politicians purport to improve the lives of children through rigorous standardized testing, the approach remains narrow and ignorant to real life issues destroying lives daily. Child trafficking is one of the fastest growing human rights violations in the world and the United States is not immune (Matthews, 2005).The prevention of such criminal activities should be one of America’s top priorities, at least in our top ten concerns, but instead goes on without notice. The 2008 United States Presidential campaign took place over the span of months and covered a wide range of issues, but notoriously absent from the debate was discussion regarding the trafficking of minors for the insidious sex trade.

According to Daniel Roberts, Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI`s Criminal Division during a 2008 CNN interview with Jane Valez on October 28, 2008, the Justice Department was involved in a nationwide sting operation that took place in two dozen American cities, rescued 49 minors (all but one were girls) and arrested 642 adults (“CNN,” 2008).

While success stories like this exist, there is growing concern that more can and needs to be done. Why are operations such as this left to the sole responsibility of one federal law enforcement agency? No one is suggesting that teachers or the Department of Education should be out searching under every stone for these heartfelt cases and helping children return to a life of normality. What can be accomplished by caring adults, particularly those responsible for providing to children a greater world perspective, is greater attention and instruction paid before children make such tragic decisions that land them in these catastrophic conditions.

Instead, Deputy Assistant Director Roberts states that the majority of these children find themselves in these situations because those charged with their care often see them as “throw-away kids”…lured away by through the Internet. Even sadder is his observance that little is done for the simple reason that this population at risk does not vote and has no voice or power (“CNN,” 2008). It is at this critical junction that schools and teachers should play a more active role, and while every dimension of school can be instrumental, it is the particular purview of social studies that is situated to assist in reducing the potential of these incidents immediately.

Child Soldiers

“Child soldiers are ideal because they don’t complain, they don’t expect to be paid, and if you tell them to kill, they kill.”

Senior officer in the Chadian National Army (“Child Soldiers,” 2008A)

A 'child soldier' is defined as any child - boy or girl - under 18 years of age, who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity, including, but not limited to: cooks, porters, messengers, and anyone accompanying such groups other than family members. It includes girls and boys recruited for sexual purposes and/or forced marriage. The definition, therefore, does not only refer to a child who is carrying, or has carried weapons ("UNICEF," 2008).

Over 250,000 children, in more than 50 countries, are involved in armed conflicts around the world (Briggs, 2005.) Jimmie Briggs, journalist and author of Innocents Lost, stated in a recent forum on the exploitation of youth that “children are increasingly the face of war.” Authors like Briggs, and popular organizations like the Invisible Children, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, and Amnesty International have thrown light on this issue that has long existed. Only recently have we seen action taken to stem the tide and reduce the possibility of children serving in combat across the planet.

According to research provided by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (2007), most cases are considered voluntary enlistment scenarios, but at the same time most see children enlist because of poverty, lack of employment opportunity and inadequate education. According to the 2008 Global Report on Child Soldiers, “children were actively involved in armed conflict in government forces or non-state armed groups in 19 countries or territories between April 2004 and October 2007”. While the number of children participating in armed conflict is on the decline due to initiatives led by international treaty organizations such as the International Criminal Court in the Hague, more can and should be done.

The United States has not supported initiatives to limit the recruitment of individuals under the age of eighteen, identifying recruitment as a concern. Safeguards are in place, such as requiring parental support for the enlistment on seventeen year olds, but many of the incentives utilized by the US military to secure that consent mirror the incentives utilized by what might be described as less reputable organizations such as monetary incentive, lowering recruitment standards, and employment opportunity.

Ironically, the legislation entitled “No Child Left Behind” has provided the entry point for military recruiters into the halls of academia. In 2002 the US Congress enacted the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, which required secondary-schools to provide military recruiters with the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all juniors and seniors (typically ages 16–18), and to conduct recruiting activities on school premises (“Child Soldiers,” 2008B).

References

Amnesty International USA. (2008). Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved November 25, 2008 from .

Anti-Slavery: Today’s fight for tomorrow’s freedom. (2007). How Big is the Problem?

Retrieved September 24, 2008 from:

.

Bhattacharya, M. (2007). Small Hands of Slavery. Monash Business Review 3(3), 32-33.

Briggs, J. (2005). Innocents Lost: When child soldiers go to war. New York: Perseus

Books Group.

Child Rights Information Network. (2008). Child Labour. Retrieved November 26, 2008 from

Child Soldiers Global Report 2008. (2008A). Voices of Child Soldiers. Retrieved

November 9, 2008 from

child-soldiers.

Child Soldiers Global Report, 2008. (2008B). United States of America. Retrieved November 9, 2008 from .

CNN. (2008). Transcripts. Retrieved November 9, 2008 from .

Coalition to Stop the use of Child Soldiers. (2007). Some Facts. Retrieved November 9, 2008 from .

Klicka, C. J., & Estrada, W. A. (2007). Home School Legal Defense Assoication. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: The most dangerous attack on parents' rights in the history of the united states. Retrieved November 25, 2008 from .

Levison, D., Hoek, J., Larn, D., & Duryea, S. (2007). Intermittent Child Employment and its Implications for Estimates of Child Labour. International Labour Review 146(3-4), 217-251.

Mathews, S. (2005). International Trafficking in Children: will new U.S. legislation provide an ending to the story? Houston Journal of International Law 27(3), 649-702.

National Crime Victims’ Rights Week: Justice isn’t served until crime victims are. (2005). Human Trafficking. Retrieved November 23, 2008 from

North, C. M., & Smietana, B. (2008). Shopping for Justice: The trouble with good intentions. The Christian Century 125(5), 30-33.

Tucker, L. & Ganesan, A. (1997). The Small Hands of Slavery: India’s bonded child laborers and the world bank. Multinational Monitor 18(1), 17-19.

UNICEF. (2008). Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved November 25, 2008

from .

Wikipedia. (2008). Trafficking of Children. Retrieved November 23, 2008 from .

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