What is our agenda here at children's rights? Many people do not support us because they haven't gotten the memo about what we really want as advocates - which is to include children in the national discourse, namely though child self-advocacy.
Children advocate for their own needs from day one. They cry when they want something, and they whine as an older child when they want something. It is in the nature of children to self-advocate for themselves, and so we should listen to the voices and opinions of children as a society.
I myself am a survivor of childhood. When I was a child, nobody cared about my opinion, and people dismissed or even censored my opinion. If a child has too much of an opinion, they are punished for it.
Children are meant to be listened to, not preached to - and that is our agenda in one simple phrase.
The way to get there is to judge all parental entitlement towards children, meaning any want from or of children to the point of imposition. Entitled parents and adults will be judged. Then, the law will follow a gradual change in public opinion. Things are improving for children, but it will take a long time for children to have true justice for the atrocities imposed upon them, which constitutes a national emergency. It is urgent that we make aware the harm of corporal punishment and other forms of punitive parenting. Only then will children have a voice of their own.
Children have a voice when in my vicinity or care. I let children have a will or opinion of their own, and I let them boss me around, and then I am subordinate to children and their every vulnerable need, struck with reverent fear. My relationship with children, thus, is clear and transparent, and they feel free to call me out on things that make them uncomfortable. If every adult was like me, we'd be at full child acceptance in no time, and children would have a platform to be self-advocates more than they do today. A child owes me nothing, as I am entitled to nothing from a child, and grateful for all the respect and trust I get from them, expecting nothing more.
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