Current Issues of 2017

        Although I have never went through the situation of divorce between parents,

I have many family members and friends that have. The couples and their children

were all different ages in each situation, but one thing remained the same. Children

are not given the choice or option to decide who they live with, when they see each

parent, or even if they don’t want to see one parents at all. We live in a day of time

where equal rights for everyone is protested all around the globe, however children

are not given rights even in situations that will effect them for the rest their lives.

Since children begin to talk and understand things at such a young age, they deserve legal rights especially in the situations of divorce, abuse, and foster care.

  

        According to kidshealth.org, “Normal Speech and Language Development” children between the age of eighteen and twenty four months “begins to imitate and approximate sounds and words modeled by family members.” Also  “Normal Speech and Language Development” states children between two and three years old “vocabulary increase and they begin to form sentences.” It is obvious that once a child begins to talk, they also begin to comprehend and understand what is going on around them. They also begin to realize or understand when something is right and wrong or what makes them happy, sad, and/or mad. It is common for a adult to believe that children are not capable of understanding complex situations, however they can and very often do, which makes it moral for children to have their own rights.    

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        According to the American Psychology Association, “about 40 to 50 percent of married couples in the United States divorce(APA).” A common trend seen across the globe is most couples have at least one child together once they have gotten married. Since almost half of all married couples get a divorce, that means deciding what is best for their child becomes a priority. It is common for parents to think they know what is best for their child; however, the child also knows what is best for themselves. Every divorce happens for a different reason. Those reasons could be because of problems between just the adults or it could also be between a parent and the child. No matter what the situation is a child is not given a say in what will happen and ultimately determine their future. According to “The Voice of the Children of Divorce, Custody, and Access” in Canada, “Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children, which gives children the right to express their views in processes that affect their lives (Bessemer, 11).” However, humanium.org, “Children of  United States of America” states “The United States is the only country in the world that has not ratified the Convention on the Rights of Children (Ahlgrim).” The United States of America is known to be a free and equal country,  yet children don’t have the right to decide what is best for themselves and their future. 

In fact, in a article on  americanspcc.org called “Statistics and Facts About Child Abuse in the U.S.” states “The most recent figured from the 2014 Children’s Defense Fund’d Annual State of America’s Children report that 1,825 children are abused or neglected each day in the U.S.” Abuse and neglect is also a leading cause of divorce, whether is be physically or verbally. If that neglect had not been reported before, the court system would be unaware of it, therefore that person has every right to fight for their child's custody. In this situation, the child would not  

want to see or live with the abusive parent, however the child’s voice of opinion would not be took into consideration. We often see and hear on the news, stories about a child getting killed from abuse and we act out in anger. However, when it comes to custody battles, nothing is done because the child’s voice does not play a role in our court systems.  

 

      Not only do children's opinions get swept under the rug in custody battles, but in any type of legal situation. Children seem to be professions at making up very believable stories at times. It is very possible for a child to make up a story involving how they are treated or for a parent to convince their child to tell a lie in order for them get full custody; however, it is not a guarantee the child is lying, which is why there should be further investigation. Also according to americanspcc.org, more than half of child abuse cases go unreported each year. Not only is it not morally right, it isn't legally either. If adults were treated the same as children in the court system, it is very possible the nation would turn against the government for unfair treatment. Yet we are still treating children as if they are not human beings. Although a child's voice doesn’t always go unheard, once they turn thirteen, they have the choice of which parent they would like to live with if they are unhappy with their current living situations,  but until they are thirteen, nothing will be done and most of the time it’s already too late and they have experienced too much trauma.  

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      In other cases, children when a child is took out of a bad living situation, and placed into a foster home, they are still likely to be living in an unhealthy environment. Abcnews.go.gov, “Facts on Foster Care in America” states “ case workers burn out and leave the profession in very high numbers. The annual turn over rate in the child care work force is more than 20 percent.” This meaning children will be placed from one case worker to next, also meaning they will move from foster home to foster home. Even though case and/or social workers are  

supposed to be there to help, they ultimately hurt the child. Since foster children have either been taken away or left once, the more people who come and go in their lives play a dramatic role in how they see themselves, life, and their future. Especially to younger children, the more their routine is reckoned with, the more aggression they will show.  

 

     Although a parents first instinct is to “do” and “know” what is best for their child, the reality is the only person who knows what is best for the child is the child. We are living in the twenty-first century, and while every type ethnicity is protesting for equal rights and treatment, there is no one protesting for equal rights for children. No matter the age, children know what they need and want, just as a baby knows to cry when they are hungry, a verbal child knows who they want to spend the most of their time with. Children of the nation will also always be the future of our nation and while not every child's parent divorce, they all deserve the same rights as adults in the court system. In the end, we all want what is best for our nation and our nations future.

 

    Works Cited   

Ahlgrim, Allison. “Children of United States of America.” Humanium, 10 Feb. 2016.  

http://www.humanium.org/en/americas/united-states-of-america/ 

Bessner, Rhonda. “The Voice of the Child in Divorce, Custody, and Access Proceedings.”  

Bessner, 2002. 

“Child Abuse Statistics.” American SPCC, 2017. http://americanspcc.org/child-abuse-statistics/ 

“Facts on Foster Care in America.” ABC News, 30 May 2006.  

http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/FosterCare/story?id=2017991&page=1” 

 “Marriage and Divorce.” American Psychology Association, 2017.  

http://www.apa.org/topics/divorce/index.aspx 

 “Normal Speech and Language Development.” Kids Health for Nemours, 2017.  

http://m.kidshealth.org/en/parents/not-talk.html'

Image Source

“Children+Have+Rights+Too.” Google Search, Google, www.google.com/search?q=children%2Bhave%2Brights%2Btoo&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwibx4OYg9fTAhVIZCYKHabzD44Q_AUIBigB&biw=1366&bih=618#imgrc=fxe_E8eXFHcS5M:&spf=196. Accessed 4 May 2017.