A series of events in recent days offers insights into how societies might be squaring their obligations toward children.
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Texas law requiring age verification to access websites with largely adult content. On the same day, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo signed a deal to end a violent conflict in which children as young as 10 years old have been forced into combat.
On Sunday, a French law banning smoking in specified public areas came into effect shortly before summer school holidays. And on June 24, Thailand became the first Asian country to reverse legalization of marijuana, largely out of concern for young people.
A common thread among these disparate situations is the priority of and possibilities for protecting the safety, dignity, and innocence of those under 18 years of age. As France’s Health Minister Catherine Vautrin declared to the newspaper Ouest-France, the freedom to smoke “ends where children’s right to breathe clean air begins.”
The world has made much progress in safeguarding young people since the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child – the most rapidly ratified human rights treaty in history. That pact enjoined adults and governments to act in the best interests of each child. Now, more than 35 years later, online connectivity and legalization of recreational drugs present new challenges to childhood. Many young people recognize that and are calling for help. In Thailand, for example, the Youth Network Against Cannabis sent a petition to the government last year with some 200,000 signatures asking for marijuana to be reclassified as an outlawed narcotic.
In the United Kingdom, a requirement for robust age checks on adult websites goes into force in late July. The impetus comes from the urging of British youth themselves – “70% of children (increasing to 75% of 16-17-year-olds) … think that social media platforms should enforce minimum age requirements,” a survey by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner found. the study noted.
Listening to such requests can nudge societies toward responses that go beyond paternalism to a protection that respects a child’s inherent capacity to discern and seek good. In some cases, adults can learn to find that good as well.
