Does a Child Need Human Rights?

The human being is one of the few mammals in the animal kingdom that nurtures and cares for its young long past the time they become independent.

However, it is a sad fact that the care given to some children is less than satisfactory and for that reason children need, and thankfully have, human rights over and above the right to care from their parents.

A Right to an Education

In the UK every child has a right to be educated to at least the government standard. All children have the right to be able to read and write and to access the further education system if they wish to. This right is backed by the legal responsibility of the state to ensure that every child is identified and monitored for their progress and the legal responsibility of the parents to ensure that their children attend school or are home-schooled to a certain level.

A Right to Access Healthcare

As with education, all children have the human right to medical treatment and access to healthcare, be it the Nurse at school, Doctor or hospital; either with or without parental consent. This right cannot be denied for any reason.

This is again backed by law; parents and guardians have a responsibility to ensure that their children are taken to the Doctor or medical practitioner if they appear unwell and cannot refuse to allow medical treatment without due cause, religion for instance, although in some cases the state can step in and advocate for the children if it is deemed necessary to protect their rights.

A Right to Decent Living Conditions

Whether we like it or not, it is a fact of UK society that some people are living in deplorable conditions, with little access to warmth or food and homes that should be condemned. If there are children involved then the state has a responsibility to help the family as much as possible to ensure that the children live in a clean, disease-free environment with adequate nutrition for their developmental needs.

A Right to be Free From Abuse

It would be nice to think that all children are raised in loving, violence and abuse free households but sadly this is not the case. You only need to look at the news or internet to be assailed with horrific stories of mental, physical and sexual abuse suffered by kids; from babies to young adults. Despite the tireless work of the authorities, police and charitable foundations there are still thousands of hidden victims having their human rights violated every day.

It almost goes without saying that all children have the human right to be free from abuse of any kind, to be cared for in a decent environment by responsible adults whose sole purpose is to act in the best interests of the child.

In Conclusion...

So, children have these basic human rights, along with many others relating to the justice system and immigration to name a couple. Are they actually required? The argument against is that parents and guardians, those who have the custody and care of children, should be allowed to govern what rights those children have. Essentially, they feel that those with parental responsibility should be allowed to govern that child; not deal with the dictations of the state.

But the fact that there are organisations in place that deal with abuse and neglect shows that some parents are not able to care adequately for the kids in their care. Children do need human rights and to be protected from those who would try to ignore or breach those rights. Until we are able to be certain that children are completely safe and protected, children’s human rights must be developed and enforced, no matter what the parents say.