Children between liberation and care: ethical perspectives on the rights of children and parent–child relationships

Abstract

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) is accepted in nearly all countries in the world although the idea of children’s rights is still much discussed. The author distinguishes two perspectives for interpreting the children’s rights’ convention correlated with different child images. On the one hand there is the ‘caretaker perspective’, mainly based on the idea that children are weak, vulnerable and need to be socialised in order to function in society. On the other hand there is the ‘child liberator perspective’, which argues that children not only need adequate care, but also the freedom to express their own thoughts. This perspective focuses on participation rights of children. The author shows the relevance of both perspectives and explains how the ‘child liberator perspective’, based on the idea that children are competent subjects, has greater plausibility. She elaborates bridges between the perspectives of care and liberation, thereby discussing the idea of ‘liberation’, ‘intrinsic value of children’, and ‘responsibility’.