Article 1: Definition of a Child ‘…….a person below the age of 18, unless the laws of a particular country set the legal age of adulthood as younger’.*

For such countries, the Convention encourages them to consider increasing the age of majority to 18, however in practice, the Articles of the Convention apply to anyone under 18, regardless of the laws of their country.

Why is this important?  Because childhood is socially constructed; it is never an absolute.  An example: in certain countries, and historically in the UK, a girl of 12, 13, 14, 15 can be legally married to a man over the age of 18.  Under current UK law, this is not legal and the subsequent sexual relationship would be considered child abuse, resulting in a criminal conviction and possible imprisonment, placement on the Sex Offenders Register, debarment from certain jobs…..you get the picture.  In one country it’s illegal, in another, it’s the norm.  Perhaps in such countries a young female teenager isn’t considered capable of making responsible decisions for herself.  In that case, why is she getting married?  In the UK, those under 18 are protected under the Children Act 1989 (and subsequent Acts) from situations and activities that could potentially harm them; the UNCRC seeks to protect all the world’s children.

Let’s look at another example: my father-in-law started work at 14.  I’m not sure but I assume he worked a full day, though as an apprentice he wouldn’t have earned a ‘living’ wage (no Minimum Wage in those days.)  Considered an adult for the purposes of work, he couldn’t rent or buy a home, get married, drink alcohol, drive a car; and, not least, he couldn’t vote.  He paid Income Tax and National Insurance but played no part in deciding which political party should spend his hard earned contributions.  And he wouldn’t have, until he was 21!  Some people argue that the UK has gone too far the other way.  The age of majority is now 18, an age when some young people are just embarking on their university degrees, so all the responsibilities associated with adulthood (it’s argued) shouldn’t be given to ‘children’ still in full time education who can’t make ‘grown up’ decisions.  In some countries today children are working at 11 or 12, usually combining work with studying at school. There are countries in which full time secondary school education doesn’t finish til age 19.

Furthermore, all over the world there are religious and cultural celebrations of ‘Coming of Age’, for example, the Bar Mitzvah of the Jewish faith for boys aged 13.  Many of these originate thousands of years ago and don’t relate to modern times, but even today there are people groups who in practice set the age of adulthood at below 18.

The point I’m making is that the activities and responsibilities we associate with child/adulthood are flexible on the age to which they apply.  Therefore it’s important that the UNCRC is NOT flexible on its application: it’s everyone under the age of 18 years.  As we’ve seen, this is actually problematic in practice: ‘In many societies children’s births are not registered and they have no idea when they reach eighteen.  In other cultures, boys and girls marry much younger, often at puberty, they work as soon as is necessary and even have their own children, at ages which the UNCRC would still refer to as childhood’. (Understanding Childhood, Martin Woodhead and Heather Montgomery, The Open University, 2003.)  However, this Blog is not intended to apply policy or solve problems…….

*All ‘Article’ quotes are from http://www.unicef.org/arc/files/Rights_overview.pdf