Hidden in Plain Sight[horizontal ellipsis]The Tragedy of Children's Rights Ben Franklin, Lionel Tate Barbara Bennett Woodhouse. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 2008. Princeton hardcover 357 pages, $18.
"Ain't I a Person? Ain't I got rights" asks the 13-year-old foster child of the consulting attorney. With those words, the author, in her first story, propels the reader right to the purpose of her book. "The purpose of this book is to spark public debate about the meaning of rights for children and to force a closer examination of our national resistance to children's rights" (p 6). We learn that the United States, alone among nations, rejects the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The reader cannot help but continue to read the other 10+ stories in this creative yet provocative book. The author provides the reader with a most diverse and challenging perspective on children's rights. We are asked to examine children's rights through the lens of history, legal precedents, cultural changes, constitutional interpretations, child development theories [horizontal ellipsis] all through the narratives of children, some of whom became famous, such as Benjamin Franklin and children tried as adults like Lionel Tate. If you are building a healthcare system for children, then one is forced to understand the rights of those children and the issues and challenges facing them. How many of us have cared for sick children and been impressed with how much they understand and how important it is to honor their wishes, make them part of their getting well? How many of us have cared for foster children, wondering if their best interests are truly being met? How did you feel when the children from the polygamous compound in Texas were moved in group from the only family they knew? Did you watch the system struggle with the multitude of issues and think about what is the right thing to do?
This book was 20 years in the making and is the first of its kind to explain the complexities of children's rights in a readable form for the nonlegal laymen who meet the needs of children through health, education, or social needs, though, I suspect the legal community will adopt this book as well. The book has 13 chapters divided into 5 parts:
1. The Privacy Principle: Stories of Bondage and Belonging
2. The Agency Principle: Stories of Voice and Participation
3. The Equality Principle: Stories of Equal Opportunity
4. The Dignity Principle: Stories of Resistance and Resilience
5. The Protection Principle: Stories of Guilt and Innocence
The first 2 chapters are the only near theoretical ones. I say near, as even the author's theories are easy to read and understand. The first chapter explores areas of child development around agency and voice, whereas the second chapter focuses on the constitutional, legal, and societal issues around children's rights. For teachers and students, this book has 21 pages of notes and references for the stories, whereas the bibliography is 11 pages. We are graced with 11 beautiful illustrations, including one of Helen Keller with her tutor Annie Sullivan. Some illustrations are just moving, including the one of 14-year-old Lionel Tate, one tear falling down his face on being tried as an adult for murder. This is a substantive book from an academic perspective while maintaining a very readable dialogue. And for absolute certainty, wherever you stand or thought you stood on the issue of children's rights, once you have read this book, you will never look at a children's story the same again. It is not about your child needing an attorney because you made him do his homework. But it is about giving voice to children, particularly the most vulnerable.