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The best interests of the child — UNCRC
January 23rd, 2010 by Richard Collins

http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/edumat/IHRIP/circle/modules/module5.htm
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Best interests of the child

A major aspect of the philosophy behind the UNCRC is that children are equals; as human beings they have the same inherent value as grown-ups. The affirmation of the right to play underlines the fact that childhood is valuable in itself and these years are not merely a training period for the adult life. The idea that children have equal value may sound like a truism, but it is, in fact, a radical thought—one not at all respected today.

Children—especially when very young—are vulnerable and need special support to be able to enjoy their rights in full. How can children be granted equal value and at the same time the necessary protection? Part of the answer lies in the principle of “the best interests of the child,” formulated in article 3(1):

In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.

Whenever official decisions are taken which affect children, their interests should be seen as important. The interests of the parents or the state should not be the all-important consideration. This is indeed one of the major messages of the CRC.

Views of the child

This first principle, by its very nature, gives importance to another principle, one about respecting the views of the child. In order to know what actually is in the interests of the child, it is only logical to listen to him or her. The principle is formulated in article 12(1):

States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child be given due weight, in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.

This has been termed by some commentators the “participation” element in the CRC. The idea is that the child has the right to be heard and have his/her ideas taken seriously. The reports by states parties so far have been vague on this article; some have stated that children of, for instance, twelve years of age have the right to reject an adoption or a change of name or nationality. Few have displayed a comprehensive approach to this principle which affects life in schools and families—and in politics.
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It is easy to see why despotic parents hate the foundational premises of the UN CRC. They wish to treat their children as property, as clay they can mold to suit their whims and prejudices. You do not treat an equal in this manner. You certainly have no inherent right to punish an equal physically because they do not bow down to you.

Framing the rights of children as elaborated in the UN CRC has profound implications for how parents role in the development of their children is envisioned. Tyrannical patriarchs are out. Thoughtful respectful guardians are in.

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Online resources compiled by James C. Talbot
January 19th, 2010 by Richard Collins

Legality of corporal punishment in the United ...
Image via Wikipedia

For any parent’s who would wish to explore what has become a world wide consensus against spanking, you will find below a number of online resources from my book.

The Road To Positive Discipline: A Parent’s Guide

Slapping and Spanking in Childhood and Its Association with Lifetime Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/gca?sendit=Get+All+Checked+Abstract%28s29&SEARCHID=1041949468944_779&TITLEABSTRACT=Slapping+and+spanking+in+Childhood&JOURNALCODE=&FIRSTINDEX=0&hits=1&RESULTFORMAT=&gca=161%2F7%2F805

Research on Corporal Punishment – Available Online
http://stoptherod.net/research.htm

Corporal Punishment – Empirical Studies
http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/CP-Empirical.htm

The Research and Informed Expert Opinion
http://nospank.net./resrch.htm

Slapping and Spanking in Childhood and Its Association With Lifetime Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders in a General Population
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/161/7/805

States Should Ban Violence Against Children – United Nations Study
http://nospank.net/n-q33r.htm

Correlation Between High Rates of Corporal Punishment in Public Schools andSocial Pathologies
http://nospank.net./correlationstudy.htm

Experts – Spanking Harms Children, Especially Girls
http://nospank.net./women.htm

Spanking and Mental Illness
http://nospank.net./falk2.htm

The Sexual Dangers of Spanking Children
http://parentinginjesusfootsteps.org/sxdangers.html

Spanking Can Be Sexual Abuse
http://www.nospank.net/101.htm

panking, Pain and Pleasure
http://www.nospank.net/r-ali.htm

American Academy of Pediatrics’ Position on Physical Punishment
http://nospank.net./aap4-c.htm

ChildAdvocate.org – Corporal Punishment Society’s Acceptable Violence Towards Children
http://www.childadvocate.org/1a_research.htm

What Does Research Say About the Effects of Physical Punishment on Children?
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/familydevelopment/components/7266a.html

The Neurobiology of Child Abuse
http://www.nospank.net/teicher2.htm

It’s Time to Change `The American Way of Discipline’ – Arthur Cherry, M.D.,FAAP,
http://nospank.net./aap5-a.htm

Why Do We Need Full Legal Reform to End All Corporal Punishment?
http://nospank.net./endallcp.htm

Physical Punishment of Children
http://nospank.net./shrc.htm

Corporal Punishment in Schools
http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics%3b106/2/343

Lowest Achieving Ohio Schools Quickest With The Paddle-Rights
http://nospank.net./ohio3.htm

Dr. Spock on Parenting (1989)–Excerpts
http://nospank.net./spock2.htm

The Center for Effective Discipline, Columbus, Ohio
http://www.stophitting.com/

End All Corporal Punishment of Children
http://www.neverhitachild.org/

Corporal Punishment and Trauma – Building Better Health
http://healthresources.caremark.com/topic/corporal

Corporal Punishment of Children (Spanking)
http://www.religioustolerance.org/spanking.htm

Giving Guidance on Child Discipline
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/320/7230/261

The Belt, Adrenalin, and Delinquency
http://www.nospank.net/welsh5.htm

Abused Tots Take On Abusive Parents Ways
http://www.nospank.net/tots.htm

Impact of Parenting Styles – Alfred Adler Institute of San Francisco
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/parentin.htm
Adult Consequences of Childhood Parenting Styles – Alfred Adler Institute
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/adult.htm

Ten Reasons Not to Hit Your Kids – The Natural Child Project
http://www.naturalchild.com/jan_hunt/tenreasons.html

Guidance for Effective Discipline
http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics%3b101/4/723

Spanking Strikes Out
http://life.familyeducation.com/spanking/discipline/36133.html

Corporal Punishment
http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/robert_ingersoll/corporal_punishment.html

Force and Fear Have No Place in Education
http://nospank.net/einstein.htm

Physical Punishment and The Development of Aggressive and Violent Behavior – A Review, by Elizabeth Kandel
http://www.neverhitachild.org/areview.html

Let’s Outlaw Any Hitting of Children
http://www.nospank.net/lndsbrg3.htm

Hitting People Is Wrong – and Children Are People Too
http://www.neverhitachild.org/hitting1.html

The Institute for the Study of Anti-Social Behaviour in Youth – Highlights from the Latest Youth Update
http://www.iay.org/youth_update/abstracts_latest_issue.html#Maltreatment%20and%20its%20Impact%20on%20C

Why Do We Hurt Our Children – The Natural Child Project
http://www.naturalchild.com/james_kimmel/punishment.html

Alternatives to Spanking
http://life.familyeducation.com/spanking/discipline/36135.html

Some Thoughts On Spanking – The Natural Child Project
http://www.naturalchild.com/guest/don_fisher.html

Raising Kind Children
http://extension.missouri.edu/xplor/hesguide/humanrel/gh6126.htm

Why You Should Say `No’ to Corporal Punishment – It Doesn’t Work
http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/05-96/05-2796/c02li081.htm

Spanking – An Idea Whose Time Has Gone
http://nospank.net/gurza.htm

Faut-il interdire la fessée? / Should Spanking Be Prohibited?
http://www.nospank.net/n-j48.htm

The Swedish Example
http://parentinginjesusfootsteps.org/crowell-article.html

German Parliament Bans Use Of Corporal Punishment In
Child Rearing
http://nospank.net/deut.htm

Denmark Bans Spanking
http://www.neverhitachild.org/denmark1.html

Israeli High Court on Spanking
http://nospank.net/n-g02.htm

Jerusalem Supreme Court: Corporal Punishment of Children
Is Indefensible
http://nospank.net/israel.htm

Greece Outlaws Corporal Punishment in the Home
http://nospank.net/greece.htm

South Africa’s Constitutional Court Says `NO’ to Spankers in
Christian Schools
http://nospank.net/sacourt2.htm

Spanking of Toddlers to Be a Crime in Scotland
http://www.nospank.net/n-i48.htm

Bangladesh Observes Child Rights Week
http://www.nospank.net/n-f33.htm

BBC News – UK – Smacking Children `Does Not Work’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/252607.stm

Delhi School Kids To Be Spared The Rod
http://nospank.net/delhi.htm

Punjab Bans Corporal Punishment
http://nospank.net/pkstn.htm

No Smacking Rule For Children Under Three
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2001/09/161

Greece outlaws corporal punishment in the home
http://nospank.net/greece.htm

End All Corporal Punishment of Children
http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org/

Correlation Between Corporal Punishment and Social Pathologies
http://nospank.net/guthrow.htm

Paddling States v. Non-Paddling States: A National Academic Comparison
http://nospank.net/charles5.htm

National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Call For Government Rethink On Hitting Children Following United Nations Report
http://nospank.net/n-j58.htm

Corporal Punishment of Children (Spanking): Introduction and Legality
http://www.religioustolerance.org/spankin2.htm

Kenyan Children Suffer Frequent Beatings by Teachers
http://hrw.org/english/docs/1999/09/09/kenya1654.htm

Dept of Health Issues Guidelines to British Parents on How to Smack TheirChildren
http://wsws.org/articles/2000/feb2000/smck-f02.shtml

Project NoSpank
http://nospank.net./main.htm

Spanking Articles at findarticles.com
http://findarticles.com/

End All Corporal Punishment of Children – States With Full Abolition
http://endcorporalpunishment.org/pages/frame.html

The Center for Effective Discipline
http://www.stophitting.com/

Parenting Tips
http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/children/parents/behavior/368.html

Spanking – Ages 6 to 12 | ahealthyme.com
http://www.ahealthyme.com/topic/spanking6to12

Family Resource Library Resources
http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/

A Good Whuppin’? Many Who Survived Childhood Spankings Now Endorse Them, Renewing Debate Over a Peculiar Institution.
http://www.childprotectionreform.org/policy/spanking/washpoststory.htm

Our Children Don’t Deserve to Be Beaten
http://nospank.net/lombardo.htm

Monadnock Area Psychotherapy and Spirituality Services
http://www.mapsnh.org/spanking.html

Family Issue Facts, Spanking, Bulletin 4357
http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/4357.htm

United Nations Committee on Rights of Child
http://www.nospank.net/uncrc.htm

Corporal Punishment Society’s Acceptable Violence Towards Children
http://www.childadvocate.org/1a_research.htm

How Children Really React to Control
http://nospank.net/gordon.htm

Force and Fear Have No Place in Education
http://nospank.net/einstein.htm

Selected Print Medial Coverage
http://www.nospank.net/clips.htm

Let’s Outlaw Any Hitting of Children
http://www.nospank.net/lndsbrg3.htm

Domestic Abuse Organizational and Employee Impact
http://www.newfoundations.com/OrgTheory/Mickles721.html

Plain Talk About Spanking
http://nospank.net/pt2007.htm

This valuable list for advocates who are working to ban violence against children was compiled by James Talbot author of The Road To Positive Discipline: A Parent’s Guide .

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