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Children’s Rights and Children’s Development: An Integrated Approach

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Jonathan Todres offers an assessment of how children’s rights take shape and are realized at various stages of child development and, in turn, can and should inform law and policy

Image courtesy of interviewee. September 11, 2024

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This video discusses the intersection of children's rights and child development, emphasizing the need for an integrated approach. It asserts that all children, regardless of age, have rights under international law, such as the right to be heard. However, existing literature often overlooks the application of these rights to younger children, focusing more on adolescents.

The project aims to bridge the gap between the fields of children's rights and child development, advocating for a deeper understanding that considers the developmental nature of childhood when addressing rights. The book will be organized into three sections representing various stages of childhood—early, middle, and adolescence—each featuring contributions from both child development experts and children's rights specialists.

The authors aim to foster collaboration, ensuring that insights from both fields inform law and policy. They recognize challenges, such as differences in language and approach between legal frameworks and developmental science. Ultimately, the book invites readers to engage in dialogue that enhances children's rights and well-being, recognizing the importance of children's voices in the process. By promoting interdisciplinary solutions, the project seeks to improve outcomes for all children by emphasizing the varied needs and experiences across different stages of development.

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Here are five key points from the video:

1. **Universal Rights of Children**: The author emphasizes that all children, regardless of age, possess rights under international law, including the fundamental right to be heard. However, the literature often focuses on adolescents while overlooking the participation rights of younger children.

2. **Integration of Child Development and Children's Rights**: The project aims to bridge the gap between the fields of children's rights and child development, arguing that a better understanding of developmental science can enhance the implementation of children's rights in law and policy, making them more relevant and effective across various childhood stages.

3. **Diversity of Childhood Experiences**: The video highlights the diversity among children and the need to recognize that they are not all the same. Age groupings in legal convideos often fail to account for the developmental differences and specific needs of children at various stages of growth.

4. **Collaboration Across Disciplines**: The authors advocate for interdisciplinary collaboration in understanding and addressing children's rights and development, suggesting that insights from both fields can lead to better legal frameworks, tailored interventions, and more effective support for children's well-being.

5. **Voices of Children**: The project underlines the importance of hearing children's voices in the research and development of laws and policies that affect them. Including children's perspectives can enrich understanding and ensure that their rights are meaningfully upheld in both private and public spheres.

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Here are some key quotes extracted from the video you :

1. "A core principle of children's rights, like human rights more generally, is that all children have rights."

2. "While there's broad recognition of this concept, we often tend to think about specific rights as relevant to certain ages of childhood."

3. "The right to be heard... means they have an opportunity to give input and to be heard."

4. "What's been missing from much of the scholarship on children's rights is a deeper engagement with the developmental nature of childhood."

5. "If we're gonna be true to the idea that everyone has rights... then we need to figure out how to make that meaningful, not just for 15-year-olds, but also for five-year-olds."

6. "The law has made notable progress in recognizing that children are different from adults."

7. "Children are extraordinarily diverse... we've done much less work on navigating how to support implementation of children's rights at different stages of childhood."

8. "We have two fields, children's rights and child development that have proceeded largely on separate tracks."

9. "Children's rights often fail to draw adequately on the science of child development."

10. "This book aims to build bridges between the two fields and map out a more integrated approach to children's rights and child development."

11. "We wanted child development experts offering nuanced insight into the science of child development."

12. "We wanted authors to share their knowledge with each other and push each other to develop chapters in a way in which the two fields were really engaging one another."

13. "The law relies a lot on bright line rules... understanding children's development better can lead to better law."

14. "Children are simply not all the same."

15. "The core argument of this book is that when we think about law and policy related to children... we really need an approach that recognizes and accounts for developmental differences."

16. "I hope readers of the book experience moments of surprise, moments of feeling challenged and moments of feeling inspired."

17. "The voices and lived experience of children themselves... provide an important foundation for all of us to build on."

These quotes encapsulate the central themes of the video, including the integration of children's rights and child development, the importance of recognizing children's diverse needs at various developmental stages, and the call for interdisciplinary collaboration to support children's rights effectively.

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Here are some similar articles or themes that align with the topics discussed in your video regarding children's rights and child development:

1. **Children's Rights and Developmental Psychology**:
- An article that explores how developmental psychology informs our understanding of children's rights, focusing on specific age-related needs and how policies can be adapted to meet those needs.

2. **The Impact of International Law on Child Development**:
- A study analyzing how international conventions, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, affect policies in early childhood education and development, with a focus on marginalized groups.

3. **Integrating Children’s Voices into Policy Making**:
- Research discussing the importance of listening to children in policy-making processes, emphasizing participatory methods that can enhance the recognition of children's rights across different developmental stages.

4. **Interdisciplinary Approaches to Child Welfare**:
- An article outlining collaborative efforts between child advocacy organizations and developmental science professionals to create more effective child welfare policies that encompass both rights and development.

5. **Challenges in Addressing Young Children's Rights**:
- A paper examining barriers to the recognition of rights for infants and toddlers, including legal definitions of childhood and the gap in advocacy efforts that often prioritize older children.

6. **The Role of Childhood Stages in Legal Frameworks**:
- A discussion on how different stages of childhood (early, middle, adolescence) are treated within legal systems, and suggestions for reforming laws to better reflect developmental science.

7. **Cultural Perspectives on Children's Rights**:
- An analysis of how various cultures approach the concept of children's rights, with a focus on integrating local customs and practices into international standards of child development.

8. **Collaboration Between Pedagogues and Legal Experts**:
- An exploration of successful partnerships between educators and legal professionals in promoting children's rights within educational settings, ensuring that children's developmental needs are met alongside their rights.

These articles and themes can provide a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of children's rights and development and highlight the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in enhancing outcomes for children.

X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

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My work focuses on children's rights, as does the work

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of my co-editor, Ursula Kil Kelly.

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And a core principle of children's rights,

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like human rights more generally, is

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that all children have rights.

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And so, while there's broad recognition of this concept,

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we often tend to think about specific rights as relevant

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to certain ages of childhood.

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And we overlook the relevance of all rights

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to children of all ages.

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Take for example, the the right to be heard.

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Under international law, children have a right

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to be heard on matters that affect their lives.

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That doesn't mean they get the final say.

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It means they have an opportunity

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to give input and to be heard.

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And the literature on the right to participate

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as it's known, often mentions in passing

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that this right belongs to all children,

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including young children.

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But then it typically focuses primarily,

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if not exclusively, on adolescents.

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And it rarely addresses what participation rights mean

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and how they might differ in early childhood

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or middle childhood and other rights.

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Scholarships such as in the context of child labor,

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recognizes that younger children are more vulnerable,

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but it does not engage the science

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of child development in a way

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that could provide a nuanced understanding

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of when are children able to engage in certain activities

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or act with greater autonomy.

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In short, what's been missing from much

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of the scholarship on children's rights is a deeper

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engagement with the developmental nature of childhood

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and an unpacking of what rights mean

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and how they apply to children of various ages

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and stages of development.

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Or said another way, if we're gonna be true to the idea

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that everyone has the right has rights, including the right

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to participate as one example, then we need to figure out

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how to make that meaningful, not just for 15 year olds,

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but also for five year olds and everyone else in between.

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And so in the last 20 years,

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the law has made notable progress in recognizing

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that children are different from adults.

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We see this in the United States

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and Supreme Court jurisprudence on juvenile justice cases.

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However, as as a group,

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children are extraordinarily diverse.

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And while we've been successful in forging legal recognition

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that children are different from adults,

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we've done much less work on navigating how

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to support implementation of children's rights

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at different stages of childhood.

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So as we started to shape this project

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and think about this, what Ursula

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and I saw was we have two fields, children's rights

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and child development that are widely recognized

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as important to the healthy development of children

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and youth, but

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that have proceeded largely on separate tracks.

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Children's rights often fail

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to draw adequately on the science of child development,

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and at the same time, there's relatively little engagement

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with children's rights in the developmental literature,

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and thus, they're missed opportunities

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to reap the benefit of children's rights law.

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So what this book aims to do, is to build bridges

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between the two fields and map out a more integrated

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approach to children's rights and child development

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that can help advance efforts to ensure the rights,

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wellbeing, and healthy development

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of all children. In attempting

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To build bridges between the two fields,

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we took two steps that I, that we felt were important.

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First, we opted for an edited volume

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with contributing authors.

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We wanted experts in each field talking about their field.

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That is one, one could have a child rights expert read the

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development literature and summarize it,

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but we wanted child development experts offering

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that nuanced insight into the science of child development.

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Similarly, for the rights portions of the book,

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we wanted child rights experts to opine on those issues.

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So the book is structured around the three primary stages

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of childhood, early childhood,

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middle childhood, and adolescence.

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And within each part, we have three different chapters.

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So it starts

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with the foundational work of child development.

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We have a child development expert saying here in early

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childhood or middle childhood

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or adolescence, this is what the science says.

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This is what we know about children's developing capacities.

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This is what happens, this during this stage,

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and this is what children need.

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And then the next chapter is written

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by a child rights expert saying, this is

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what children's rights law says

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and how it applies in particular at that stage.

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And then finally, we have a third chapter in each part

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that looks at some contemporary issues,

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from the perspective of children's rights.

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So you can think about the di distinction between the second

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and third chapter as follows.

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The second chapter starts with the law

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and says, how does it,

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how is it relevant in early childhood,

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middle childhood or adolescents?

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And the third chapter starts with

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what children are experiencing and their lives.

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So social, social media, and middle childhood,

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and then works back to children's rights law.

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And that gives us a chance to,

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to address some issues in a cross-cutting way.

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Um, so that's the first piece that's sort of structure

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and the fact that we really relied on experts in both fields

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to contribute to this dialogue and discourse in the book.

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And then the second piece is

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that we took a really different approach to edited,

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doing an edited collection.

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Typically, when you're asked to in, to contribute

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to an edited volume, you write a draft of your chapter,

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you send it in the, the editors give you a a few comments,

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you revise it, resubmit, and that's it.

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And authors never really engage one another.

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They write in silos. Um, and we changed that.

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We had authors share chapters, not just with us,

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but with one another.

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We wanted children's rights authors

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to really draw on the development chapters.

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So we insisted that they rely on that other work,

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and we wanted authors to share their knowledge

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with each other and push each other

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to develop chapters in a way in which the two fields were

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really engaging one another.

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And at times, that's, that was challenging.

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Uh, it's challenging to have someone from another field say,

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well, that's not exactly how we see it.

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Um, we see it slightly differently.

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But that led to some really important learning,

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which I think is one of the great

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potential benefits of the book. Each

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Side has so much to learn from the other.

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And so speaking of benefits,

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I think there are really many potential benefits from a

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children's rights perspective.

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I think child rights professionals and experts

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and researchers can obtain a better understanding

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through this book of the science of child development,

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which can lead us to develop better legal responses

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that accurately reflect children's needs

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and capacities at each stage of development.

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The law relies a lot on bright line rules.

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You can think about minimum age laws,

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and those often don't align with what the science

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of child development tells us about children.

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Understanding children's development

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better can lead to better law.

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And so it can also help us understand children's capacities.

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So for example, the science of child, child development

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and adolescent development tells us that 16

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and 17 year olds as one example,

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really have about the same capacity

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to do certain things like voting privately in a voting booth

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as someone in their early twenties.

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And so this might lead us to think differently

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about the capacities of young people,

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about civic engagement, about what support

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children should have, about how we might,

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s support their exercise of their rights.

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And so I think there's a lot to learn from

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the child rights side.

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And then I also think,

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from the child development perspective,

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connecting the fields gives child development experts

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and professionals an opportunity to draw on the power

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of children's rights, specifically its legal mandate it so

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that they can take what they know

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and have it, have the force of a legal mandate

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to ensure the wellbeing of every child

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and ensure every child can grow to their full potential.

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And finally, just more generally, I think the process

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of collaboration across disciplines.

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I've believed this for a long time,

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and my interdisciplinary work, it can really lead

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to new insights and understanding,

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which can strengthen both fields.

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I think what we looked for was, in terms

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of selecting the office, we looked for a diverse group

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that offered interesting perspectives while ensuring

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that they had the expertise to, explore

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and grapple with the issues that we,

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wanted them to grapple with.

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And I think what we ended up with is a group of contributors

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who are really true experts in their area,

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true experts on early childhood or on middle childhood,

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or on adolescence or on adolescents rights.

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Um, that, and

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that gives us not only the expertise in the book,

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but I also think it really offers a model for

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how the two fields can engage one another and collaborate.

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We tried at some level to show a pathway

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to collaboration,

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and we very much had to learn as we went along.

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In doing this project, two issues came to the forefront.

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First, there's one of

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Language, and the second is framework.

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So when we think about language, I think a lot

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of people often think when you're working across disciplines

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that different fields will use different terminology,

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and that certainly came up.

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But I think that one of the more complex challenges is that

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different fields often use the same terminology,

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but they mean different things.

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And so, for example, in the children's rights discourse,

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identity is used to refer to a broad array

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of characteristics.

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And in that sense, it can really apply

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from the beginning of life.

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But when you talk to development science experts,

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they typically use identity in a much more defined manner,

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referring to the process of identity formation

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that primarily occurs in adolescence.

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So we had to navigate these language differences in a way

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that was made the project complex,

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but also really interesting, I think.

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And then in terms of frameworks, I think it's also

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what we learned is that the two fields

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where they have a common goal of advancing child wellbeing,

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they really have different approaches.

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So evidence-based research on child development really

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emphasizes precision

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and caution in expressing findings,

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noting limitations where necessary.

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But the law necessarily speaks in broader,

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often general terms.

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For example, the law, frequently term child

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or minor on a specific issue, even though the vast majority

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of individuals affected might be infants

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or toddlers in a particular case or a adolescents.

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While the law uses this general language to ensure

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that less typical cases are not excluded from coverage

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and protection, the lack

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of precision from a child development perspective makes it

10:35.635 --> 10:39.235
challenging to ensure that long policy

10:40.535 --> 10:42.635
is tailored to the specific needs

10:42.635 --> 10:44.235
of children at a specific stage.

10:44.935 --> 10:46.435
And then also conversely,

10:47.175 --> 10:49.475
the child development literature is also telling us

10:49.475 --> 10:51.715
that we have to recognize that development

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and maturation occur differently in different children.

10:54.615 --> 10:56.395
And so we need flexibility

10:56.455 --> 10:59.515
for individualized trajectories in child development,

10:59.935 --> 11:02.195
and that makes sense, but that really pushes up against the

11:02.335 --> 11:04.835
law, which needs some bright line rules.

11:05.535 --> 11:09.275
So we all have some clarity ex ante, so we know how

11:09.275 --> 11:11.555
to navigate, we know what the rules are ahead of time.

11:12.795 --> 11:17.665
And so I think those challenges really, was a part

11:17.665 --> 11:19.945
of our thinking and selecting authors as well.

11:20.245 --> 11:24.545
We wanted authors who were okay with the sort of discomfort

11:24.765 --> 11:26.705
of grappling with these differences

11:27.245 --> 11:28.945
and having to think differently

11:29.045 --> 11:33.465
and being open to, to input, from different fields.

11:33.685 --> 11:34.785
So that was a big part of it.

11:34.785 --> 11:37.065
And the last thing I would say in our development

11:37.065 --> 11:39.745
of this project, you know, a core tenant

11:39.805 --> 11:42.745
of children's rights law is that, as I mentioned earlier, is

11:42.745 --> 11:44.505
that children have a right to be heard.

11:45.305 --> 11:48.725
And so we felt it was really important to ensure

11:48.725 --> 11:49.925
that in some way,

11:50.605 --> 11:52.805
children's voices were part of this project. So

11:52.805 --> 11:54.645
There was a, in the last part of the book,

11:54.835 --> 11:56.445
there's an additional chapter on

11:56.725 --> 11:57.845
insights from children and youth.

11:58.465 --> 12:01.165
And we draw upon some really wonderful research

12:01.165 --> 12:03.685
that others in the field have done,

12:03.685 --> 12:05.525
and partnerships that exist with children

12:05.585 --> 12:07.325
and youth that provide insights.

12:08.615 --> 12:09.735
Children at each stage

12:09.735 --> 12:13.255
of development think about their rights, about their lives,

12:13.875 --> 12:17.655
and shows us that they can really be active partners in the

12:17.895 --> 12:20.055
research we're doing to better understand their lives.

12:20.415 --> 12:22.135
Children are simply not all the same.

12:22.475 --> 12:24.295
Uh, and I know that's stating the obvious,

12:24.395 --> 12:26.375
but when the law says that anyone under the age

12:26.375 --> 12:27.935
of 18 is considered a child

12:27.935 --> 12:31.335
and has the same status, what it's saying on some level is

12:31.335 --> 12:33.335
that a, a 16-year-old, a 6-year-old,

12:33.375 --> 12:36.495
a six month old are all the same or have the same status.

12:37.035 --> 12:38.495
Uh, and with respect to

12:38.495 --> 12:40.255
that particular provision of the law.

12:40.255 --> 12:41.815
And, and frankly, any parent,

12:41.875 --> 12:43.495
or rather really any child

12:43.595 --> 12:44.815
can tell you that simply isn't true.

12:45.475 --> 12:48.375
Um, so the core argument of this book is

12:48.375 --> 12:50.135
that when we think about law

12:50.135 --> 12:52.415
and policy related to children,

12:52.435 --> 12:54.815
and strategies for implementing children's rights,

12:55.355 --> 12:58.895
we really need an approach that recognizes

12:58.895 --> 13:02.415
and accounts for developmental differences,

13:02.415 --> 13:03.975
and growth across childhood

13:04.515 --> 13:07.255
by better understanding what's happening in early childhood,

13:07.435 --> 13:09.295
middle childhood adolescents,

13:09.595 --> 13:11.735
and ensuring that that knowledge informs the

13:11.735 --> 13:12.935
development of law and policy.

13:13.555 --> 13:16.215
We can craft more developmentally appropriate laws.

13:16.915 --> 13:18.775
Change is constant throughout childhood.

13:18.955 --> 13:20.655
But I think it's really important to note

13:20.955 --> 13:23.335
as the c child development experts in our book show, is that

13:23.915 --> 13:25.215
it happens in different ways

13:25.395 --> 13:27.455
and at different paces in each stage.

13:28.035 --> 13:30.415
Um, and the world

13:30.415 --> 13:32.935
around children is also different at different stages.

13:33.475 --> 13:37.925
So readers of the book will, have a chance in early,

13:38.035 --> 13:39.445
when they're reading about early childhood

13:39.865 --> 13:42.685
to better understand maternal childhood relationships,

13:42.685 --> 13:45.125
attachment the role of parents in early childhood,

13:45.825 --> 13:49.885
and see that rights are operating primarily in the private

13:49.905 --> 13:50.965
sphere of the family.

13:51.545 --> 13:54.445
And that's very different from middle childhood when

13:54.685 --> 13:56.845
children are really emerging into public spheres.

13:57.185 --> 14:00.165
Um, traditionally that would meant going to school.

14:00.745 --> 14:02.485
Uh, and still that's a big part of it,

14:02.705 --> 14:07.285
but it also means today, engaging in social media,

14:07.415 --> 14:09.925
where there's sort of much broader challenges.

14:10.185 --> 14:11.205
And there are other spaces

14:11.385 --> 14:14.685
and domains where children sort of emerge into,

14:14.745 --> 14:17.485
in middle childhood and presenting new challenges.

14:17.545 --> 14:19.405
And then I think in adolescence,

14:19.795 --> 14:23.005
it's in some ways a really different game,

14:23.405 --> 14:25.645
entirely from the first two stages,

14:25.705 --> 14:27.365
as development experts will tell you.

14:27.665 --> 14:30.845
And they'll also tell you, that the science shows us

14:30.845 --> 14:34.485
that adolescents really extends well beyond age 18,

14:34.495 --> 14:37.045
which is the typical age of majority in the law.

14:37.065 --> 14:40.645
And so, we really need more nuanced law

14:40.645 --> 14:44.485
that reflects science, and reflects child development.

14:44.865 --> 14:49.325
Um, so that ultimately the, the law can support the

14:50.605 --> 14:52.545
Healthy development of all children

14:52.925 --> 14:54.865
and account for the rich complex

14:54.865 --> 14:56.185
nature of child development.

14:56.385 --> 14:59.025
I hope readers of the book experience moments of surprise,

14:59.295 --> 15:00.825
moments of feeling challenged

15:00.845 --> 15:02.905
and moments of feeling inspired.

15:03.085 --> 15:07.665
And so with respect to surprise, I, I always want readers

15:07.665 --> 15:10.985
to have moments when they say to themselves, you know,

15:11.145 --> 15:13.225
I haven't really thought about what rights look like

15:13.605 --> 15:15.105
for children at that age.

15:15.945 --> 15:19.865
I want readers to see that all rights apply to,

15:20.005 --> 15:22.385
or should apply to, be applied

15:22.405 --> 15:23.705
to children at all stages.

15:24.165 --> 15:26.545
How that happens is complicated in many

15:26.545 --> 15:28.065
instances, but it can happen.

15:28.205 --> 15:29.585
And I think, you know,

15:29.735 --> 15:32.425
take an example about participation rights in early

15:32.425 --> 15:36.785
childhood, which I think that often re receives resistance,

15:37.205 --> 15:39.265
but preschool teachers will tell you

15:39.265 --> 15:41.905
that they support children's right to be heard all the time.

15:41.935 --> 15:44.065
They incorporate what children want to do all the time.

15:44.495 --> 15:46.265
It's happening, it can happen more.

15:46.885 --> 15:49.745
Uh, it happen, it can happen in ways that really support

15:50.345 --> 15:52.265
children's development if we move

15:52.265 --> 15:55.265
beyond traditional constructs of childhood,

15:55.325 --> 15:58.305
and move to a sort of right, supportive,

15:58.685 --> 16:03.545
developmentally appropriate way, to, approach law

16:03.545 --> 16:04.745
and policy that affects children.

16:05.005 --> 16:09.525
Second, I really want people to feel challenged, if

16:09.525 --> 16:11.685
that's, I want them to think if that's what's happening.

16:11.865 --> 16:15.125
If the development science says x about middle childhood,

16:15.595 --> 16:17.085
what then should the law look like?

16:17.245 --> 16:19.365
I want readers who are of,

16:19.365 --> 16:21.205
who have backgrounds in children's rights or law

16:21.205 --> 16:24.925
and policy to think, okay, how do we develop better law

16:25.035 --> 16:27.525
that really is responsive to what we know today

16:28.095 --> 16:29.485
about child development?

16:29.945 --> 16:32.965
And then third, I hope readers are inspired.

16:33.225 --> 16:35.245
And by that I mean inspired to build on this work

16:35.265 --> 16:37.005
and forge stronger and new

16:37.005 --> 16:38.365
connections between the two fields.

16:38.705 --> 16:40.085
Our hope is that this is real.

16:40.085 --> 16:41.565
This book is really an invitation.

16:42.235 --> 16:44.525
It's an invitation to others in both fields

16:44.905 --> 16:45.925
to build on this work.

16:46.345 --> 16:49.205
And if it motivates people to reach across to a, the,

16:49.265 --> 16:51.365
the other field, connect the two fields,

16:51.385 --> 16:54.765
and start to develop interdisciplinary solutions

16:55.145 --> 16:57.965
to the challenges facing children today,

16:58.115 --> 17:00.245
then I'll be happy and I'll frankly be excited

17:00.245 --> 17:02.365
to participate in that collaboration.

17:02.465 --> 17:05.365
And the last thing I'll say is, you know,

17:05.405 --> 17:06.525
I think there are a lot of differences

17:06.525 --> 17:07.525
between the two fields,

17:07.865 --> 17:10.765
but one wonderful area of common ground is

17:10.765 --> 17:13.645
that both fields really recognize the importance

17:13.905 --> 17:16.205
of the voices and lived experience of children themselves.

17:16.585 --> 17:20.005
And that common ground provides an important foundation

17:20.005 --> 17:21.205
for all of us to build on.

17:21.385 --> 17:24.715
And so I really hope that Ritas will look to children

17:24.735 --> 17:25.835
and youth in their communities

17:25.935 --> 17:28.355
and see them as partners in their research and work

17:28.895 --> 17:32.595
and our collective effort to improve the opportunities

17:32.615 --> 17:33.395
and outcomes for children.

00:00 - My work focuses on children's rights, as does the work of my co-editor, Ursula Kil Kelly. And a core principle of children's rights, like human rights more generally, is that all children have rights. And so, while there's broad recognition of this concept,

00:13 - we often tend to think about specific rights as relevant to certain ages of childhood. And we overlook the relevance of all rights to children of all ages. Take for example, the the right to be heard. Under international law, children have a right to be heard on matters that affect their lives. That doesn't mean they get the final say. It means they have an opportunity to give input and to be heard.

00:37 - And the literature on the right to participate as it's known, often mentions in passing that this right belongs to all children, including young children. But then it typically focuses primarily, if not exclusively, on adolescents. And it rarely addresses what participation rights mean and how they might differ in early childhood or middle childhood and other rights. Scholarships such as in the context of child labor,

01:00 - recognizes that younger children are more vulnerable, but it does not engage the science of child development in a way that could provide a nuanced understanding of when are children able to engage in certain activities or act with greater autonomy. In short, what's been missing from much of the scholarship on children's rights is a deeper engagement with the developmental nature of childhood and an unpacking of what rights mean

01:24 - and how they apply to children of various ages and stages of development. Or said another way, if we're gonna be true to the idea that everyone has the right has rights, including the right to participate as one example, then we need to figure out how to make that meaningful, not just for 15 year olds, but also for five year olds and everyone else in between. And so in the last 20 years, the law has made notable progress in recognizing that children are different from adults.

01:50 - We see this in the United States and Supreme Court jurisprudence on juvenile justice cases. However, as as a group, children are extraordinarily diverse. And while we've been successful in forging legal recognition that children are different from adults, we've done much less work on navigating how to support implementation of children's rights at different stages of childhood. So as we started to shape this project

02:17 - and think about this, what Ursula and I saw was we have two fields, children's rights and child development that are widely recognized as important to the healthy development of children and youth, but that have proceeded largely on separate tracks. Children's rights often fail to draw adequately on the science of child development, and at the same time, there's relatively little engagement with children's rights in the developmental literature,

02:41 - and thus, they're missed opportunities to reap the benefit of children's rights law. So what this book aims to do, is to build bridges between the two fields and map out a more integrated approach to children's rights and child development that can help advance efforts to ensure the rights, wellbeing, and healthy development of all children. In attempting To build bridges between the two fields, we took two steps that I, that we felt were important.

03:04 - First, we opted for an edited volume with contributing authors. We wanted experts in each field talking about their field. That is one, one could have a child rights expert read the development literature and summarize it, but we wanted child development experts offering that nuanced insight into the science of child development. Similarly, for the rights portions of the book, we wanted child rights experts to opine on those issues. So the book is structured around the three primary stages

03:33 - of childhood, early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence. And within each part, we have three different chapters. So it starts with the foundational work of child development. We have a child development expert saying here in early childhood or middle childhood or adolescence, this is what the science says. This is what we know about children's developing capacities. This is what happens, this during this stage,

03:59 - and this is what children need. And then the next chapter is written by a child rights expert saying, this is what children's rights law says and how it applies in particular at that stage. And then finally, we have a third chapter in each part that looks at some contemporary issues, from the perspective of children's rights. So you can think about the di distinction between the second and third chapter as follows.

04:20 - The second chapter starts with the law and says, how does it, how is it relevant in early childhood, middle childhood or adolescents? And the third chapter starts with what children are experiencing and their lives. So social, social media, and middle childhood, and then works back to children's rights law. And that gives us a chance to, to address some issues in a cross-cutting way.

04:44 - so that's the first piece that's sort of structure and the fact that we really relied on experts in both fields to contribute to this dialogue and discourse in the book. And then the second piece is that we took a really different approach to edited, doing an edited collection. Typically, when you're asked to in, to contribute to an edited volume, you write a draft of your chapter, you send it in the, the editors give you a a few comments, you revise it, resubmit, and that's it.

05:13 - And authors never really engage one another. They write in silos. and we changed that. We had authors share chapters, not just with us, but with one another. We wanted children's rights authors to really draw on the development chapters. So we insisted that they rely on that other work, and we wanted authors to share their knowledge with each other and push each other to develop chapters in a way in which the two fields were

05:38 - really engaging one another. And at times, that's, that was challenging. it's challenging to have someone from another field say, well, that's not exactly how we see it. we see it slightly differently. But that led to some really important learning, which I think is one of the great potential benefits of the book. Each Side has so much to learn from the other. And so speaking of benefits,

06:01 - I think there are really many potential benefits from a children's rights perspective. I think child rights professionals and experts and researchers can obtain a better understanding through this book of the science of child development, which can lead us to develop better legal responses that accurately reflect children's needs and capacities at each stage of development. The law relies a lot on bright line rules. You can think about minimum age laws,

06:27 - and those often don't align with what the science of child development tells us about children. Understanding children's development better can lead to better law. And so it can also help us understand children's capacities. So for example, the science of child, child development and adolescent development tells us that 16 and 17 year olds as one example, really have about the same capacity to do certain things like voting privately in a voting booth

06:53 - as someone in their early twenties. And so this might lead us to think differently about the capacities of young people, about civic engagement, about what support children should have, about how we might, s support their exercise of their rights. And so I think there's a lot to learn from the child rights side. And then I also think, from the child development perspective,

07:16 - connecting the fields gives child development experts and professionals an opportunity to draw on the power of children's rights, specifically its legal mandate it so that they can take what they know and have it, have the force of a legal mandate to ensure the wellbeing of every child and ensure every child can grow to their full potential. And finally, just more generally, I think the process of collaboration across disciplines. I've believed this for a long time,

07:47 - and my interdisciplinary work, it can really lead to new insights and understanding, which can strengthen both fields. I think what we looked for was, in terms of selecting the office, we looked for a diverse group that offered interesting perspectives while ensuring that they had the expertise to, explore and grapple with the issues that we, wanted them to grapple with. And I think what we ended up with is a group of contributors

08:20 - who are really true experts in their area, true experts on early childhood or on middle childhood, or on adolescence or on adolescents rights. that, and that gives us not only the expertise in the book, but I also think it really offers a model for how the two fields can engage one another and collaborate. We tried at some level to show a pathway to collaboration, and we very much had to learn as we went along.

08:50 - In doing this project, two issues came to the forefront. First, there's one of Language, and the second is framework. So when we think about language, I think a lot of people often think when you're working across disciplines that different fields will use different terminology, and that certainly came up. But I think that one of the more complex challenges is that different fields often use the same terminology, but they mean different things.

09:16 - And so, for example, in the children's rights discourse, identity is used to refer to a broad array of characteristics. And in that sense, it can really apply from the beginning of life. But when you talk to development science experts, they typically use identity in a much more defined manner, referring to the process of identity formation that primarily occurs in adolescence. So we had to navigate these language differences in a way

09:41 - that was made the project complex, but also really interesting, I think. And then in terms of frameworks, I think it's also what we learned is that the two fields where they have a common goal of advancing child wellbeing, they really have different approaches. So evidence-based research on child development really emphasizes precision and caution in expressing findings, noting limitations where necessary.

10:06 - But the law necessarily speaks in broader, often general terms. For example, the law, frequently term child or minor on a specific issue, even though the vast majority of individuals affected might be infants or toddlers in a particular case or a adolescents. While the law uses this general language to ensure that less typical cases are not excluded from coverage and protection, the lack of precision from a child development perspective makes it

10:35 - challenging to ensure that long policy is tailored to the specific needs of children at a specific stage. And then also conversely, the child development literature is also telling us that we have to recognize that development and maturation occur differently in different children. And so we need flexibility for individualized trajectories in child development, and that makes sense, but that really pushes up against the

11:02 - law, which needs some bright line rules. So we all have some clarity ex ante, so we know how to navigate, we know what the rules are ahead of time. And so I think those challenges really, was a part of our thinking and selecting authors as well. We wanted authors who were okay with the sort of discomfort of grappling with these differences and having to think differently and being open to, to input, from different fields. So that was a big part of it.

11:34 - And the last thing I would say in our development of this project, you know, a core tenant of children's rights law is that, as I mentioned earlier, is that children have a right to be heard. And so we felt it was really important to ensure that in some way, children's voices were part of this project. So There was a, in the last part of the book, there's an additional chapter on insights from children and youth.

11:58 - And we draw upon some really wonderful research that others in the field have done, and partnerships that exist with children and youth that provide insights. Children at each stage of development think about their rights, about their lives, and shows us that they can really be active partners in the research we're doing to better understand their lives. Children are simply not all the same. and I know that's stating the obvious,

12:24 - but when the law says that anyone under the age of 18 is considered a child and has the same status, what it's saying on some level is that a, a 16-year-old, a 6-year-old, a six month old are all the same or have the same status. and with respect to that particular provision of the law. And, and frankly, any parent, or rather really any child can tell you that simply isn't true.

12:45 - so the core argument of this book is that when we think about law and policy related to children, and strategies for implementing children's rights, we really need an approach that recognizes and accounts for developmental differences, and growth across childhood by better understanding what's happening in early childhood, middle childhood adolescents, and ensuring that that knowledge informs the

13:11 - development of law and policy. We can craft more developmentally appropriate laws. Change is constant throughout childhood. But I think it's really important to note as the c child development experts in our book show, is that it happens in different ways and at different paces in each stage. and the world around children is also different at different stages. So readers of the book will, have a chance in early,

13:38 - when they're reading about early childhood to better understand maternal childhood relationships, attachment the role of parents in early childhood, and see that rights are operating primarily in the private sphere of the family. And that's very different from middle childhood when children are really emerging into public spheres. traditionally that would meant going to school. and still that's a big part of it, but it also means today, engaging in social media,

14:07 - where there's sort of much broader challenges. And there are other spaces and domains where children sort of emerge into, in middle childhood and presenting new challenges. And then I think in adolescence, it's in some ways a really different game, entirely from the first two stages, as development experts will tell you. And they'll also tell you, that the science shows us that adolescents really extends well beyond age 18,

14:34 - which is the typical age of majority in the law. And so, we really need more nuanced law that reflects science, and reflects child development. so that ultimately the, the law can support the Healthy development of all children and account for the rich complex nature of child development. I hope readers of the book experience moments of surprise, moments of feeling challenged and moments of feeling inspired.

15:03 - And so with respect to surprise, I, I always want readers to have moments when they say to themselves, you know, I haven't really thought about what rights look like for children at that age. I want readers to see that all rights apply to, or should apply to, be applied to children at all stages. How that happens is complicated in many instances, but it can happen. And I think, you know,

15:29 - take an example about participation rights in early childhood, which I think that often re receives resistance, but preschool teachers will tell you that they support children's right to be heard all the time. They incorporate what children want to do all the time. It's happening, it can happen more. it happen, it can happen in ways that really support children's development if we move beyond traditional constructs of childhood, and move to a sort of right, supportive,

15:58 - developmentally appropriate way, to, approach law and policy that affects children. Second, I really want people to feel challenged, if that's, I want them to think if that's what's happening. If the development science says x about middle childhood, what then should the law look like? I want readers who are of, who have backgrounds in children's rights or law and policy to think, okay, how do we develop better law that really is responsive to what we know today

16:28 - about child development? And then third, I hope readers are inspired. And by that I mean inspired to build on this work and forge stronger and new connections between the two fields. Our hope is that this is real. This book is really an invitation. It's an invitation to others in both fields to build on this work. And if it motivates people to reach across to a, the,

16:49 - the other field, connect the two fields, and start to develop interdisciplinary solutions to the challenges facing children today, then I'll be happy and I'll frankly be excited to participate in that collaboration. And the last thing I'll say is, you know, I think there are a lot of differences between the two fields, but one wonderful area of common ground is that both fields really recognize the importance

17:13 - of the voices and lived experience of children themselves. And that common ground provides an important foundation for all of us to build on. And so I really hope that Ritas will look to children and youth in their communities and see them as partners in their research and work and our collective effort to improve the opportunities and outcomes for children.

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