Children's Bill of Rights

My husband was appalled this morning when he found out a local charity was raising funds toward filled backpacks for homeless children. It wasn't the backpacks he took issue with, but the fact that these children, recipients of brand-new backpacks full of great school stuff, were left homeless with their parents instead of being placed in foster care, where they would at least have roofs over their heads and be protected in a home.

I laughed at him a little - but I also agreed with him. For the last thirty years, the focus has been on keeping the family intact, no matter how difficult that may be for the family. There seems to be a romantic notion that if a child is with his or her parent(s), everything else is secondary. This is simply not true, as decades of generational welfare and dysfunction should have taught us all by now.

Children are often better off without abusive parents, addicted parents, or absent parents. Children of absentee parents often wait years before parental rights are terminated involuntarily, resulting in their dependence on the foster system because they've outgrown the prime ages of adoption. Children are left with abusive parents by a dysfunctional system, while children in perfectly functioning families are monitored because the parents are more cooperative. Babies are born addicted, and then turned over to mothers who have shown by their behavior that they are unable to care for themselves, much less an infant.

This needs to stop, but not in a piecemeal fashion, and not in a way that overly burdens the government. We need a coherent, universal, federal children's bill of rights. With a bill of rights just for children, legislation would have a true guideline for when to interfere with the parental bond, and when to just leave things alone, and an objective way to judge when social structures like schools and clubs are failing our children.

A Proposed Children's Bill of Rights

Children shall have the right to enough nutritious food to eat to ensure his or her good health and proper growth, and adequate health care to ensure their healthy development. Guidelines for minimum requirements should be devised by an independent, professional panel of pediatricians and other qualified healthcare workers, not the government.

Children have the right to a safe and secure home. This means children should not be maintained in a homeless household, or an abusive household. If the parent(s) cannot provide that minimal level of subsistence, the child should be placed in foster care until the parent is able to do so.

Children have the right and responsibility to go to school and receive the best possible education for their needs. This means that not only does the family have a requirement to ensure the child understands the importance of this responsibility, but also that educational agencies must ensure the child receives the education he or she deserves, be that through standard public education, magnet programs, or educational vouchers.

Children have the right to proper physical, mental, and emotional care from their parents or foster parents. This includes both custodial and non-custodial parents. Parents who cannot or will not provide these things on a steady basis should have their parental rights terminated in a timely fashion.

Children have the right to a private and personal space, whether that is a bedroom or just a dresser. A child who is never trusted, never develops a sense of honor and self-pride.

Children have the right to participate in their own destinies and futures to the extent that is reasonable given the child's chronological and developmental age. This means parents should recognize that while their dream has always been to have their son graduate Clemson, he may actually want to backpack across Africa and then join the Peace Corps. Too many children have been caught in the trap of their parents' dreams.

Children have the right to learn values, morality, and spiritual lessons from their parents and other responsible adults as chosen by their parents or caregivers.

Children must be protected by parents, schools, local communities, and state and federal government from those who would prey upon them.

Children have the right to explore the world to the extent that it is safe, and to question and learn without restriction by parents or schools. While a very young child may not have the maturity to do this in a safe fashion, children should be encouraged to explore their world in an increasingly intense fashion as they grow older.

Children have the right to extra protection under the law as befits their minor and immature status. This means that they should be protected from those who would harm them, and that criminal behavior by children should be treated very differently from criminal behavior by an adult.

This Is A Work In Progress

These are only my ideas. Please feel free to add others in the Comments section, or to clarify or modify items that have been put here so that we can develop a true community-driven Children's Bill of Rights.