Declaration of the Rights of the Child

After reading Enola’s entry outlining the outrageous and baffling comments by a lawmaker, reasonable people could feel nothing less than sadness, despair and heart stopping fear for the degraded condition this society has settled itself into and gotten comfortable in. Her entry outlines a defense attorney’s horrific comments as he discusses child rape and the death penalty. The YouTube presentation is one that I personally will remember. His words are here: “I’m going to make sure that the rest of their life is ruined, that when they’re 8 years old, they throw up; when they’re 12 years old, they won’t sleep; when they’re 19 years old, they’ll have nightmares and they’ll never have a relationship with anybody.” Clearly he has never heard of the ideals behind the Decleration of the Rights of Children or it’s amendments. If he had any idea at all what it means to do the right thing he would have kept his mouth shut. If he had any listened to himself just once he would hear himself go against every single idea there is behind caring for and loving our children.

Strangely enough I did not know there was a document with the wording that is also the title of this entry. I suppose I knew the ideas existed, the laws existed and certainly human rights groups exist to support the rights of children but this wording “Declaration of the Rights of the Child” is brand spanking new to me. On paper it sounds beautiful, the newer version surely to sound better but every day we see just how much of a work of make believe this is. It sounds good, the idea is right and pure but some would say it’ll take a work of magic to have it all upheld. I say, it will take not a work of magic to make this declaration a reality but a removal of the poison apple.

The Deceleration as outlined on Wikipedia,

The Declaration of the Rights of the Child, drafted by Eglantyne Jebb and adopted by the International Save the Children Union, Geneva, February 23, 1923 and endorsed by the League of Nations General Assembly on November 26, 1924.

Article 1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) defines a Child as a person under eighteen years of age.

By the present declaration of the Rights of the Child, commonly known as the Declaration of Geneva, men and women of all nations, recognizing that mankind owes to the Child the best that it has to give, declare and accept it as their duty that beyond and above all considerations of race, nationality or creed:

1. The child must be given the means requisite for its normal development, both materially and spiritually.
2. The child that is hungry must be fed, the child that is sick must be nursed, the child that is backward must be helped, the delinquent child must be reclaimed, and the orphan and the waif must be sheltered and succoured.
3. The child must be the first to receive relief in times of distress.
4. The child must be put in a position to earn a livelihood, and must be protected against every form of exploitation.
5. The child must be brought up in the consciousness that its talents must be devoted to the service of its fellow men.

The original document, in the archives of the city of Geneva, carries the signatures of various international delegates, including Eglantyne Jebb, Janusz Korczak, and Gustave Ador, a former President of the Swiss Confederation.

A slightly amended version was adopted by the United Nations in 1946, and on November 20, 1959 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a much expanded version as its own Declaration of the Rights of the Child.

To make this deceleration more than colourful words on parchment we must remove the poison apple - adults who don’t see children as real, live human beings that count and should be protected and coveted and cared for and never, ever, ever allowed to know what it means to be a survivor.