Children's Rights are the human rights of children with
particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to
minors, including their right to association with both parents, human identity
as well as the basic needs for food, universal state-paid education, health
care and criminal laws appropriate for the age and development of the child,
equal protection of the child's civil rights, and freedom from discrimination
on the basis of the child's race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national
origin, religion, disability, color, ethnicity, or other characteristics.
Interpretations of children's rights range from allowing children the capacity
for autonomous action to the enforcement of children being physically, mentally
and emotionally free from abuse, though what constitutes "abuse" is a
matter of debate. Other definitions include the rights to care and nurturing.
"A child is any
human being below the age of eighteen years, unless under the law applicable to
the child, majority is attained earlier."
According to Cornell University, a child is a person, not a subperson.
The term "child" often, but does not necessarily, mean minor, but can
include adult children as well as adult nondependent children.
There are no definitions of other terms used to describe young people such as
"adolescents", "teenagers," or "youth" in international
law, but the children's rights movement is considered distinct from the youth
rights movement.
The field of
children's rights spans the fields of law, politics, religion, and morality.
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