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Harrisonburg Unitarian Universalists - Announcements & Dialog

UNCRC Rights of Children

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by Nancy Barbour
April 14, 2019

On Children (from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran)

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of
Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though
they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their
own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls
dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life
goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with
His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s
hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves
also the bow that is stable.

Introduction

These words from Kahlil Gibran will frame what I have to share with you today. They provide an image of the child as a powerful human being. Though I am not a parent, I have spent most of the last 35 years as an Early Childhood Education scholar studying how children grow and learn and how families in the US and abroad support and care for their children. As an early childhood teacher educator, I advocate for best practice so that all children can succeed in the world. I have long been a champion for children, but my concern for what is happening on our border with young children being separated from their families makes me feel angry, helpless, and unsettled. I am well aware of the lifelong impact on children when they are separated from their families. And I worry about what we are doing to children who have already been up-rooted from their homes and countries, not having a say in their fate. I will share with you information on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children (UNCRC), a document completed in 1989 (an abbreviated version is what you have in your hand). This convention clearly defines children’s rights that are guaranteed. I will use this document to examine how the separation and warehousing of children on our southern border challenges these rights. I have struggled in preparing this service because I don’t want it to be a class lecture, but more of an unburdening and sharing of my passion to protect children’s rights. 

What is the UNCRC? How did it come about?

It grew out of an earlier Convention on Children’s Rights written in 1959 and it focuses on 3 areas: Survival, protection, and participation. What is the “power” of the Convention?

  •  For protecting children around the world
  •  For protecting children involved in research
  •  For protecting the children who are emigrating to the US, especially on our
    southern border

· It was a document written, revised, reviewed and made public in 1989

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is a legally-binding international agreement setting out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of every child, regardless of their race, religion or abilities.

The UNCRC consists of 54 articles that set out children’s rights and how governments should work together to make them available to all children.

Under the terms of the convention, governments (who have ratified it) are required to meet children’s basic needs and help them reach their full potential. Central to this is the acknowledgment that every child has basic fundamental rights. These include the right to:

  • Life, survival and development
  • Protection from violence, abuse or neglect
  • An education that enables children to fulfil their potential
  • Be raised by, or have a relationship with, their parents
  • Express their opinions and be listened to.

195 “states” have ratified the Convention. There is only one UN constituent that has not ratified it…Can you guess? Yes, the US. Until 2015, there were two other countries who had not ratified it – Sudan and Somalia. SO…Why is the US the only country who has not ratified it? In the US, ratification of any treaty requires a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate to pass, and a number of Republican senators, claiming concerns about U.S. sovereignty, have consistently opposed ratification. A very uninformed interpretation of this document claims that the UNCRC advocates loss of parental rights in raising their children. Some parents’ associations are also opposed to it for fear of weakened parental authority, especially concerning sexual and religious education. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I was very surprised and embarrassed to realize a number of years ago that this document existed and is used around the world. It was never part of my undergraduate or graduate studies. It wasn’t until I began attending international early childhood conferences that I learned about the UNCRC and it is now a topic to be covered in every ECE course I teach. Why is this so important to me? Because the UNCRC describes childhood as a unique and important developmental period and it describes children as strong, powerful, humans worthy of respect. I have always brought this image of the young child to my ECE work.

So what does this convention have to do with what is happening on our border?
Everything. We hear the term Unaccompanied Minors. Most of us think about those brave teens who make incredibly dangerous treks, without adults, from the hostile environments in their countries to come and have a better life in the US. But this term also refers to the many young children who are separated from their families as their parents attempt to enter the US illegally, desperate for a safer future for their families.

There was an earlier effort developed to protect immigrant children entering the US. The Flores Settlement Agreement is a court settlement which occurred in 1985 that set limits on the length of time and conditions under which children can be incarcerated in immigration detention. In September 2018, the Trump Administration proposed regulations seeking to terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement’s legal safeguards for children, including the provision that children must be transferred to a non-secure, licensed facility within three to five days of apprehension which has been interpreted to allow for an extension of up to 20 days in times of “emergency” or “influx.” Under the current administration this settlement has been largely ignored.

Impact of separation on children, especially young children

When children are separated from their families and placed in a detention center (and we really have no accurate picture of what they look like, who works there, how many children are housed there, or for how long), how will they be affected? Statements from the American Association of Pediatrics regarding the impact of these separations have emerged over the last two years: In 2018, Dr. Colleen Kraft, President
of AAP wrote: “Separating children from their parents contradicts everything we stand for as pediatricians – protecting and promoting children’s health. In fact, highly stressful experiences, like family separation, can cause irreparable harm, disrupting a child’s brain architecture and affecting his or her short- and long-term health….[creating] toxic stress – can carry lifelong consequences.” Dr. Kraft, in 2019, repeated this message and a warning about the zero-tolerance policy. She, and others, note their inability to track the actual numbers and amount of time that children are detained since there is no system in place to do so. In other words, we don’t really know with any accuracy how many children are being put at risk. Additional information about the impact of separation and care in large groups:

  •  posttraumatic stress disorder
  •  anxiety disorder,
  •  depression,
  •  aggression,
  •  psychosomatic complaints
  •  suicidal ideation

One of the most disturbing features reported about the detention centers is their rule forbidding children from touching or hugging each other, including siblings. These are sensitive exposure periods and important brain development taking place during the first seven years when children are developing self-regulation, memory, and attention. These developmental periods are particularly critical. Some of the
impact of these experiences may not emerge until later in life.

Given all of this, I want to direct your attention back to the UNCRC and look at which of these rights are being violated by the current practices at the border: Perhaps article 6 (right to life and survival to their full potential), article 9 (separation from parents against their will), article 22 (those seeking refuge, must be assisted …re-united with family).

What can we do about this situation?

  • We are experiencing a human rights crisis and children are the center of it, with extreme consequences for them. Several authors believe that there are policies in place (i.e., the UNCRC) that can guide a response. However, the US needs to know about these policies and advocate for the adoption of them. An article in the Journal of Immigrant Minor Health in 2018 said: “The framework of the Convention on the Rights of Children takes the most comprehensive approach, the associated general comments and optional protocols provide specific guidance on how to address the unique issues.”
  • I believe we need to keep this crisis front and center, not just when it is election time. It was a big story during the mid-terms and since then we hear very little about it.
  • We need to inform our communities about the UNCRC and see if we can ratify it as a country, make it a political conversation.
  • We need to get accurate accountings of how many children are in detention, how they are being treated, and how much time it takes for reunification. Customs and Border Patrol are in charge of the care for unaccompanied minors…but we don’t know how this is going or if this is the best agency to be in charge.

Thank you for allowing me to share my passion and concerns about this human rights crisis. I look forward to your responses and questions.

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