Do children have rights? What rights do they have?

Debate on Friday

Issues

1. When should parents yield to child's preferences?
2. When should outsides make the moral judgment that child is being mistreated?
3. When should state legally intervene?

Rights perspective

1. Parents have rights, children have rights
2. Parents should not exceed their rights or violate child's rights
3. The state supersedes the parent when children's rights are seriously violated (parens patriae = "parent of the nation")

What rights do children have? (Feinberg vs. UN's unsystematic list)

Why does a child have a right to an open future?

• self-determination required for self-fulfillment
• Nietzsche:  "Become who you are!" (not Feinberg's way of putting it)

When is the right to an open future violated? (we will discuss each)

1. cutting off legs of baby
2. Amish education -- images of Amish life  -- Kansas decision (1966) -- Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972) -- Burger's majority opinion siding with Amish -- Feinberg p. 132-3
3. home schooling (US laws; Texas rules)
4. braces
5. Sunday school/no religion
6. inculcating vegetarianism/hunting
7. taking kids to pro-life/pro-choice rallies -- what about kids in Westboro Baptist Church protest?
8. genital surgery--operation for inter-sex states, female genital cutting, male circumcision

"Riddles"

•  parents shape kids self every step of way, so self making choices at 18 isn't really the child's true self -- there's no such thing.