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Part I of an In-depth Look at Article 18 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

During our series on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, most of the articles we have considered have focused on the relationship between the state and the child. Article 18 is therefore unique in its emphasis on the responsibilities of parents, and the supervised relationship that these parents have with the state.

Article 18 is also one of the more complex articles in the Convention, divided into three sections that address distinct facets of the relationship between parents and the state. This week, we will focus on the first section, which says that “States Parties shall use their best efforts to ensure recognition of the principle that both parents have common responsibilities for the upbringing and development of the child,” and that parents are primarily responsible for their children. As parents, “the best interests of the child will be their basic concern.”

The danger of Article 18 is that it places an enforceable responsibility upon parents to make child-rearing decisions based on the “best interests of the child,” subjecting parental decisions to second-guessing at the discretion of government agents. Read the rest of this entry »

Disagreement Abounds as Botswana Considers Implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child

Botswana’s Local Government minister Margaret Nasha is calling on the nation’s Parliament to pass the a new children’s rights bill that would both “domesticate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child” and “make sure that the best interest of the child is paramount in the performance of the functions of the various authorities tasked with protecting and caring for children.”

Botswana originally approved the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on March 14, 1995, but in the thirteen years that have intervened, proponents of the treaty have been largely unimpressed with the actions of local government. Nasha cites the measure as a necessary next-step for Botswana, saying it will help to ensure that children “are given and may exercise various rights, such as freedom of expression.”

But the result among Members of Parliament (MPs) has been mixed, with strong opposition forming against the measure. According to Botswana’s Mgemi Online, strong concerns stem from the Convention’s “right to privacy,” which many MPs fear could prevent parents from even entering their child’s room without permission – of particular concern in a country where drug use and weapons-possession are pervasive threats among teenagers. South East North MP Olebile Gaborone did not hide his displeasure with the idea, and said that there is no way he should not be allowed to go into his children’s room and make any enquiries if he feels it is necessary to do so. Read the rest of this entry »

Australian Parents Furious at Mandatory-Food Policy

Australian parents are wondering “what’s next?” after the government implemented a new childcare center policy that restricts the types of food they can put in their children’s lunchboxes.

The program, called Good for Kids, Good for Life, was recently implemented at more than 300 preschools and day-care centers in the Hunter New England area of Australia to combat childhood obesity. Not only have foods high in fat, salt, and sugar been banned from meals and snacks, but even fruit has been limited: sultanas raisins to one, three-quarter-tablespoon portion, and apples to a half-sized serving.

The government initiative also requires childcare staff to conduct lunchbox audits to ensure that parents comply with strict food policies. Read the rest of this entry »

According to the Third Court of Appeals in Austin, Texas the authorities did not have the right to remove the 440 children without court authority. The state must show that the children are in immediate danger in order to remove without going before a judge.

Associated Press story can be found here.

A good analysis of the decision and the overall issue can be found on the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform’s blog. They highlighted this passage from the opinion: Read the rest of this entry »

An investigative report by the Belleville News-Democrat out of Belleville, IL has found that the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has a very high error rate in who gets put on the state’s official child abusers list.

A big part of the problem here is that social workers generally have incredible power over the whole situation and all rights are held by the state. Read on for more from the investigative report. Read the rest of this entry »

An In-depth Look at Article 16 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

During our e-mail series on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, a constant theme has been the recurring intervention of government power in the relationship between children and their parents. Broad discretion for the state is particularly prevalent in the Convention’s “freedom” provisions, which guarantee choices to children when it comes to expression, information, religion, and association.

Perhaps the most troubling of these “freedom” provisions is article 16, which stipulates that “no child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence.” More so than any other section of the Convention, article 16 invokes the power of the government in ways previously unseen and untested in America’s legal and political history.

Paradigm Shift

The key to understanding article 16 is found in its absolute language: no child is to have his or her right to privacy violated. According to American law professor Cynthia Price Cohen, article 16 “uses the strongest obligatory language in the human rights lexicon to protect the child’s privacy rights.” Read the rest of this entry »

Is separating 416 children from their mothers to place them into foster care a good idea - ever? Dr. Phil doesn’t think so. A few quick statistics on the foster care system can erase any notion that these children could have a normal, healthy life once separated from their mothers. Clearly, the polygamy sect puts authorities in a difficult situation. But separating hundreds of children from their mothers and purposefully sending them into a such a potentially turbulent existence - which will likely land the majority of them on the street or in prison - is enough to make any concerned citizen think twice.

King: Let’s turn to the polygamy matter. If the allegations of abuse are true, do you see any problem with all of these children in foster care? Watch Dr. Phil talk with Larry King about the removal of the FLDS children »

McGraw: I see huge problems with it, Larry. Read the rest of this entry »

An In-Depth Look at Article 14 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

This week, we continue our series on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child with Article 14, which says that the government shall “respect the right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion,” and shall also “respect the rights and duties of the parents and, when applicable, legal guardians, to provide direction to the child in the exercise of his or her right in a manner consistent with the evolving capacities of the child.”

Proponents of the CRC, such as law professor Jonathan Todres, has commented that Article 14 “provides for the role of parents in teaching religion to their children, while ensuring that the government does not impose restrictions on any child’s right to freedom of religion.” Nevertheless, a deeper understanding of this provision reveals that the purportedly “pro-parent” language is really another avenue for government power, not a shield to protect parental rights. Read the rest of this entry »

Updated with another video.

Updated with video.

Tenured University of Michigan classical archeology professor, Christopher Ratte, took his 7-year-old son to a Tigers baseball game at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan. He ordered a drink for himself and what he thought was a lemonade for his son. The reality was he had ordered a Mike’s Hard Lemonade, which is an alcoholic drink for his young son. Ratte said that he didn’t even know that there was such a thing as alcoholic lemonade. Check out this photo of a sign of the drinks menu.

A security guard witnessed the boy drinking it and the eventual result was this young boy spending three days and two nights in foster care. Before you jump to conclusions please read the details about this case below.

Read the rest of this entry »

The following article by ParentalRights.org board member Michael Smith originally appeared in the Washington Times on April 28, 2008. It can be read at the Washington Times website here.

It’s often said that California is a trendsetter. Ideas that begin in California have a habit of making their way across the country.

Currently, many families have been alarmed at the recent California Court of Appeal ruling that prohibits homeschooling unless the parent is a certified teacher.

In just 10 days, more than 250,000 people signed the Home School Legal Defense Association petition opposing this decision. Not all these families were homeschoolers. James Dobson of Focus on the Family says the ruling was an “all-out assault on the family.”

The good news is that the Court of Appeal has granted a request for a rehearing of its decision on homeschooling, which by law, automatically vacates the decision, meaning it’s no longer binding.

The court has solicited a number of public school establishment organizations to submit amicus briefs, including the California Superintendent of Public Instruction, the California Department of Education, the Los Angeles Unified School District, and three California teachers unions.

Although there is no guarantee the outcome will be different after the rehearing, The homeschool community welcomes the opportunity to file an amicus brief advocating that the court retain the current method of homeschooling in California through the private school exemption.

Just when things seemed to be settling down in California, on April 3, Assembly Bill 2943 was introduced by assembly member Sally Lieber. This bill would have the practical effect of making a noninjurious spanking with an object such as a ruler, folded newspaper or small paddle illegal in California. The bill is identical to Assembly Bill 755, which failed to pass the assembly last year. Read the rest of this entry »