The society we want to be

By Adam Roberts, 15

Human rights affect everyone. Whether you’re a child or an adult, and wherever you happen to be, human rights are there to protect you. They set out the basic necessities and simple liberties that every person – regardless of their differences – is entitled to.

Human rights shouldn’t be controversial. There’s nothing in the Convention, or any other human rights treaty, that doesn’t need to be there. Human rights weren’t designed to be a burden: they were set out to form a universal template – a bare minimum – guaranteeing that all possess the essentials for life. There’s nothing in these treaties that poses a threat to our safety or prosperity, or anything that we shouldn’t accept as a basic moral value.

The fact is, despite the clear need for human rights – to set out what every government must provide, and what every person must receive – our society refuses to embrace them.

There are two fundamental obstacles which we as a society face with regard to children’s rights. The first is perhaps that we neither properly respect nor understand young people. Their views are too often ignored, or only lent a symbolic ear; we are also, as a society, so keen to unjustly ‘demonise’ and stereotype young people that rather than seeing how we can protect the rights of children, we instead find our own ways of stripping their liberties away.

The second obstacle to children’s rights is our lack of respect and appreciation for human rights as a whole. While we’re keen to criticise the records of other nations, at home human rights have an undeserved reputation: we label them a ‘charter for criminals’, protecting only those who’ve done wrong.

Ideally, human rights should govern our laws regardless of public support; whether they appear to be ‘popular’ or not, they ensure a minimum quality of life to which all, both children and adults, are entitled. However, there are few governments willing to fight against vocal public opinion, even when they know what should be done. Thus our first difficult step should be explaining two things: firstly, why human rights are so important; and, secondly, why children’s rights are just as important as anyone else’s.

We – both the government and civil society – need to make it clear that human rights are more than a ‘charter for criminals’, and that our so-called ‘rights-mania’ is not a desire to impose restrictions on others’ liberties, but instead to ensure our liberties – everyone’s liberties – are respected.

Even if human rights were properly and fully enshrined in law – as they should be – they would be meaningless unless respected by the people. Thus creating a society that respects both children and their rights is not just the best option, but the only one.

If our human rights are to be protected, we need a society that believes in them. That is the kind of society we want to be.

Posted on Monday, November 24, 2008 in