The Rights of Children: Responsibility and Freedom

A discussion on the rights of children both within the legal structure of society and in the family are discussed. The position is taken that children have the right to be responsible for their own actions, the right to internalize control over their own behavior. It is also contended that under the conditions of freedom, choice, and contingent feedback from the environment, children develop the capacity to set goals for themselves and to take appropriate actions in pursuit of these goals. This is the essence of voluntary responsible behavior. It is pointed out that the roots of responsibility run all the way back to the beginning of life. Three theories of behavior exist: (1) the psychodynamist, i.e., man is driven by instinct, inborn and immutable; (2) Behaviorism, which views man as a passive processor of information; and (3) the view that man is an active, manipulating, conscious organism, who is, under the proper circumstances, capable of structuring the world, comprehending it, and of controlling his own actions and intentions. Responsibility is described as a pattern of behavior which starts early in life with the free exploration of the environment. It is finally pointed out that to insure the rights of children to develop and grow to the peak of their potential, it is necessary to understand and enhance the conditions which facilitate this growth. (CK)