In this Chronicle of Social Change article, a legal clinic director urges family courts to return children home immediately because pandemic-related postponements of hearings are unjustly delaying family reunifications.
Revealing his pro-adult bias, the author accentuates the pain caused by separating families without acknowledging the suffering that necessitated it.
He also asserts a novel claim that parents have a ‘constitutional right’ to care for their children, presumably without outside interference.
Well, children have rights too, starting with the right to their lives, as well as to not be assaulted, starved, left untended, or used for sex by family members. These rights are based in law, the same as adults, not granted at the discretion of parents.
Arguments that exploit the pandemic to weaken child protection safeguards must be challenged.
For a reassuringly balanced approach, read “25 Tips” for responding to child abuse during the pandemic from the Zero Abuse Project.
— Where or how have you seen or heard of children’s rights to their lives and to safety compromised? Especially during the current pandemic? Please share your thoughts.