Foreword to 'What's Wrong with Rights for Children?' Symposium

Abstract

This article introduces a symposium issue on “What’s Wrong With Rights for Children?” -- and why has the United States failed to ratify the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children, even though every nation besides Somalia has done so. The symposium contributors analyze the distinct needs, concerns, interests, rights, and duties of children. They further analyze whether the U.N. Convention is the best formulation of children’s rights and what steps could be taken to improve it. The contributors range from ardent supporters to deep skeptics about children’s rights in general and the UN Convention in particular. This article maps the range of arguments pro and con, but presses for ratification of the Convention and vindication of the essential rights of all children.

Keywords: Children, Child, Rights, U.N., U.S., United States, Symposium, Abstract, Witte