INTL 284 - Children’s Rights

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

(Same as EDUC 284) This course focuses on both the theories surrounding, and practices of, children’s rights. It starts from the foundational question of whether children really should be treated as rights-holders and whether this approach is more effective than alternatives for promoting well-being for children that do not treat children as rights holders and adopt a Human Rights approach. Consideration is given to the major conceptual and developmental issues embedded within the framework of rights in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The course covers issues in both the domestic and international arenas, including but not limited to: children’s rights in the criminal justice context including life without parole and the death penalty; children’s rights to housing and health care; inequities in the education systems; child labor and efforts to ban it worldwide; initiatives intended to abolish the involvement of children in armed conflict; street children; the rights of migrant, refugee, homeless, and minority children; and the commodification of children. Country-based case studies are used to ensure that students come away with a solid understanding of current conditions. The course also explores issues related to the US ratification of the CRC, and offer critical perspectives on the advocacy and education-based work of international children’s rights organizations. Ms. Holland.

Two 75-minute periods.