Childrens Legal Rights in the U.S.

Abstract

The topic of children's rights entails such issues as child labor legislation, entering into contracts, making wills, voting age restrictions, educational and health needs, limitations on drinking and driving, access to pornography, corporal punishment, owning and disposing of property, freedom of expression, compulsory school attendance and dress codes, state imposed curfews, and due process guarantees. Those issues involve fundamental relationships among children, their families, and others, including educational, religious, economic, and political institutions. However, given the diversity and complexity of the issues, it is scarcely surprising that there is no single principle, or even a single set of principles, for designating children's rights (Burt, 1976, p. 225; Dodson, 1984, p. 116; Wald, 1979, pp. 258-259). As Rodham (1973, p. 487) described the situation, children's rights do not flow from a coherent doctrine regarding the status of children as political beings, but' are a slogan in search of defmition. To illustrate, the principle of paternalism can explain why most contracts of children are voidable, but it cannot account for why children usually can be held liable for their torts. Similarly, paternalism can explain why a fourteen-year-old girl may be required to obtain parental consent for marriage, but the same principle did not persuade the Supreme Court to require her to obtain parental consent if she wishes to terminate a pregnancy by abortion (Houlgate, 1980, pp. 3-4).