This article presents the author's Florence Bird lecture, which was delivered at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada on International Women's Day, March 8, 2012. In the lecture, the author focuses on the interrelated rights of women and children over the life cycle. The author explores this linkage and offers a caveat. The author shares a…

The purpose of this paper is to respond to Jonathan Boston's article, which outlined the findings of the Expert Advisory Group (2012), in which he singled out one policy change, the 1991 budget cuts to benefit levels, as being the major cause of one-quarter of New Zealand's children now living below the poverty line. In her response, Liz Gordon…

From 2013 to 2014, more than 66,000 children and adolescents, unaccompanied by their parents, made journeys from urban and rural areas of México and Central America and arrived in the United States in search of safety and educational opportunities. To date, various local, state, and federal agencies, as well as community and faith-based…

Recent statistics estimate that there are 783,000 children living in foster care in the United States. This vulnerable population is at risk for academic failure as well as internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems. Compared to their peers, foster youth face significant educational difficulties, including lower levels of academic…

Every child gets assigned to a public or private school chosen by some adult. The question is which adult should hold that authority by law and exercise it in practice. Our Federal Constitution recognizes the authority of custodial parents; but our systems of tax-based schools effectively dethrone working-class parents and the poor; most of whose…

Penny Wilson is a playworker--one of a group of professionals who facilitate children's play in adventure playgrounds, parks, and other settings, principally in the United Kingdom. Wilson grew up in the Southeast of England and spent much of her childhood playing on the coast near her family home. She studied illustration in art school, settled in…

Child trafficking activity often draws on formal administrative and legal resources. Formalisation implies considerable cooperation between public functionaries, lawyers and external actors. I argue that child rights advocates are forceful policy formulators who tend to ignore the public-external link because they focus on the external…

According to the annual United Nations declarations based on the Human Development Index (HDI), Canada remains one of the best places in the world in which to live. Ironically, this declaration of socio-economic superiority does not extend to the young people in the society. Although post-industrial societies like Canada and the United States may…

The case for intergenerational programs based on political and moral imperatives is explored. From a political standpoint, organizations for the aging can benefit by demonstrating commitment to child welfare. From a moral standpoint, the organized aging community should provide leadership and support for general social betterment, advocating…

Examines the role of children with regard to the law, with emphasis on their rights within the home. Examines various rights that kids and parents have at home and whether granting or denying certain rights is fair. Topics discussed include whether minors can get medical treatment on their own and their sexual and reproductive freedom. (DB)

The leader of the reconciliation movement in the new democratic South Africa provides a spiritual perspective on the deep reverence adults must have for children if they are to creatively draw out the positive qualities that exist in all young persons. In this article, the author contends that children in need must not be looked at as problems but…

This pamphlet presents the concerns of child advocates related to the use of Kansas' portion of the Master Tobacco Settlement for improving the health and well-being of children and youth as legislated in 1999. This state legislation created the Kansas Endowment for Youth Fund (KEY) to receive the tobacco monies, the Children's Initiative Fund…

A day and a half meeting of executive directors and staff of 11 members of the National Association of Child Advocates (NACA) was convened at the request of Kansas Action for Children to inform its efforts to build a constituency for children in Kansas. Child advocates are increasingly recognizing the need to build and mobilize constituencies for…

Several Supreme Court decisions in the last 15 years have demonstrated expanding recognition of the rights of minors and other dependent groups. At the same time, these recent trends have engendered conflicts concerning minors' competence to make judgments, relationships between child and family autonomy, and differing interests in child advocacy.…

The mother of a handicapped child recounts her development of assertiveness skills in the interests of her child. She discusses needing to be constantly alert during her child's infancy, dealing with her own feelings of grief and guilt, fighting for her son's rights against bureaucratic obstacles, and learning the appropriate times to exercise…