Child Rights as Human Rights in the United States of America

• In Event: 097 - Section on Human Rights Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 08. Child Rights

Abstract

The most ratified of all human rights treaties in the history of the world is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. All member countries of the United Nations have ratified it except for three – Somalia, S. Sudan and the USA. This paper reviews the primary reasons that the United States has not joined the international community to support human rights, particularly the rights of children and youth. These include US resistance to signing international human rights treaties, issues of federalism, and parental opposition to children being afforded the same rights as every other group. Recommendations for a national movement towards creating a human rights respecting culture in the US are provided. These include systematic human rights education, implementation of state and local child rights legislation, and the use of social media as a social change agent.

Author

• Yvonne M. Vissing, Salem State University