Human Rights of Children: An Emerging Story

The worst thing that can be said about a human being is that it would have been better if he had not been born. This is a message a child was told in Sunday school. And what if that child at the same time heard his mother complain to herself, but loud enough to be heard by the boy, "I got you, because of my sins." So the boy starts pondering: Wouldn't it be better if I had not been born at all? What can be done now that he is here? Not all children will hear this inner question about the aim of life in such a clear way as little Elvis did in Elvis and His Friends by Maria Gripe, a Swedish author. Still, all children are facing the same questions: What is the purpose of life? What needs to be done? Children have to grow up and become the human beings they already are.

As children have to grow up, they have to be educated. To educate them means to tell the story of being a human being. Traditions can be seen as narratives that stimulate a coherent image of a human being. Every human being is in need of such a perspective, a narrative that she can transform into her own story of life. This process helps her to balance the inner and the outer world. It is not too far-fetched to think of human life as a developing narrative. As a consequence, a child should be able to write, read, and to tell her own story.

Growing up is a life-long process, the task of every human being. Traditions help provide answers to the question of how to fulfill this task. There is always the notion of the true human being or the great human being, as told in the grand traditions of various cultures. True human education points to development of the authentic human being. Although prototypes may vary according to the culture from which they emerge, the essential qualities of true humanity are the same: love and respect for all living beings, honesty and equanimity, discipline and perseverance.

Authentic human beings have lived in every time, in every culture. Their names are not always known. Some have become known as others have started to talk about them and recorded their life stories. These stories have inspired many other people to live as true fully developed human beings.

Human values, human rights

The values of the great traditions are hardly visible in the current situation of humankind, which shows a lack of respect for children. All over the world, extreme transgressions are harmful to children and impede their development as human beings. The humane values embedded in the great traditions should be revitalized in the global world of today. With the emergence of modern technologies, the isolated nation-states are confronted with a new interdependence as frontiers disappear. Whenever something happens in one part of the world, such as a natural disaster, war, or revolution, the repercussions are felt in the other parts of the world. This is not only true for political and environmental issues, but also with respect to science and culture. In such global circumstances, the relationships between nations and between human beings have to be reconsidered and revised. As all human beings are inhabitants of this global world, there is no longer space for preferential treatment, exceptions, or chosen peoples. The exclusivity of rights and duties, which was a characteristic in the traditions, referring to a certain race, group, or "church," has to yield to a more global approach, based on the equality of all human beings and respect for human dignity. Therefore, universal human rights must be formulated. The revitalization and applications of such rights cannot exclude any political or religious institution, regardless of the efforts that these institutions make to modernize themselves. In formulating human values on a new basis as human rights...