Child rights and general perceptions that South Africa’s child rights based culture is skewed towards children and undermines the role of parents and elders, comes under spotlight at a roundtable discussion on Thursday.
The South African Human Rights Commission will, together with stakeholders such the Gauteng Provincial Education Dept, West Rand ANC Youth League, Child Law Centre, Child Welfare Society, Office on the Rights of the Child in the Presidency, discuss interventions whose aims are: to engage on constitutional rights and obligations of children and how they impact on parental involvement in the lives of children; demystify perceptions that the child rights based culture excludes adults from meaningful participation in the lives of their children.
Furthermore, they will discuss ways and means of moral regeneration within the home and within communities; set the tone for further initiatives by the Commission to bridge the divide between children and adults; create a conducive environment for relationship building between children and the older generation and initiate discourse for constructive strategies to be developed and implemented in the furtherance of child rights.
According to Ms Joy Mehlomakulu, SAHRC Child Rights Co-ordinator, the advent of democracy thirteen years ago brought about heightened awareness and a culture of respect for the rights of children in South Africa. Since then, children’s rights have been elevated to heights never seen before in the history of our country.
Section 28 in the Bill of Rights which is enshrined in our Constitution and various pieces of legislation have been enacted to ensure children’s right to protection, equality, human dignity, privacy, freedom and security. Over and above this, South Africa has obligations in terms of regional and international instruments it has ratified such the Convention on Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
All these interventions are noble as they seek to protect children who are considered the most vulnerable members of our society. However, despite these noble intentions, the child rights based culture has failed to inculcate values and responsibilities that should underpin the claiming of rights.
She added “increasingly, there is an outcry form the older generation that the child rights based culture has been skewed towards children and that the role of parents and elders has been undermined. Elders feel helpless in exercising their parental roles and responsibilities, as they feel undermined by their children who punt child rights and totally disrespect elders. The enactment of the Children’s Act and the debates around the Children’s Amendment Bill are viewed as further attempts by the state to usurp parental authority and also as an attempt by the state to dictate how parents should raise and discipline their children.”
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