Kids’ play?
Moves to enshrine children’s rights in the Constitution raise questions as to what exactly childhood is, how we should protect it – and when precisely does it end?
The Hot Press Newsdesk, 28 Feb 2012
It was widely reported last week that two philanthropic organisations, Atlantic Philanthropies and the One Foundation, have donated €1.5m to the Campaign for Children, an umbrella organisation set up to campaign in favour of changing the Constitution to include children’s rights. It’s an interesting development.
Bearing in mind what we know of the lives of many children, enshrining children’s rights in the Constitution seems entirely rational and right. But that won’t stop a raft of people from opposing it.
They’ll do so on familiar grounds. They’ll defend the family. They’ll say that the amendment will weaken the rights of parents and make it easier for social services to intervene in family situations.
What is less likely to be discussed is the notion of childhood itself and the degree to which it is socially constructed. I mean, what is a child anyway?
In Ireland as elsewhere, a person is legally a child up to the age of 18 (unless married). At that point, all the laws and structures regarding children cease to apply. While the legal age at which you can leave school is 16, you can drive a car at 17 and if you are a student you are still regarded as part of your family for means assessment up to 23, and so on, these are only minor variations.
But why 18? And why do people want to raise that age even further, for example as regards being able to buy alcohol? One fella recently wrote to the Irish Times suggesting 25!
At the time, there was much coverage of the retirement of the Director of the National Museum, Dr Pat Wallace. He’s the foremost expert on Viking excavations and could have told that letter writer that a thousand years ago, right before the Battle of Clontarf, many people didn’t live to see 25, and beer was drunk in most homes with breakfast, lunch and tea! This was because it was far safer than water at the time. It was also pretty weak, but you get my point.
There was also extensive coverage recently of the remarkable achievement by 16-year-old Dutch sailor Laura Dekker who sailed around the world solo.
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