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Home: Topics: Rights:
Oppressed by laws |
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By Josh Dunn
I am in favor of allowing children most of the rights of adults. All of the age discrimination that governments engage in violates the freedom of children, and may eventually violate the freedom of adults, or in some cases, already is.
Here is an example. Children may not own handguns, and it is illegal to take a gun within 1000 feet of a school. This not only means that students may not bring guns to school to protect themselves, it also means teachers and other school employees may not do this. The federal government, in cooperation with the states and county and municipal governments, are chipping away at our Second Amendment rights, and have put militias in the position of being armed only with semi- and non-automatic firearms.
Here is another example. Instead of giving persons under 18 real trials in adult courts, under our "juvenile justice" system, the are given secret hearings in juvenile court, without juries, and without an indictment by a grand jury. Someday, adults under the age of 21 may be subjected to this, and then maybe adults under 25, and so on.
Then there are compulsory education laws. In order to indoctrinate kids in the principles of statism, make them good citizens, and "protect the children," politicians imprison everyone for twelve years of their lives. The only ways to avoid this are homeschooling, which most parents are not able to do for financial reasons and/or time constraints, and going to a "private" school, which is prohibitively expensive and is controlled by the federal, state, and county governments almost as tightly as are public schools.
Perhaps most oppressive is the fact that children are, in many ways, the property of their parents. Although this is not a problem for children who get along well with their parents, it is a serious problem for children whose parents are abusive. Parents may legally assault their children, as is the case with spanking (which, fortunately, is becoming less common throughout the country.) If their children fight back, their parents may call the police and have them arrested. Divorcing couples engage in bitter, dehumanizing child custody battles in court. Parents' having such extreme powers over their children has necessitated "child labor" laws.
Child labor laws often hurt the very people they are intended to help. In many states, it is illegal for a fifteen-year-old to work as a cashier or office worker. Of course, with compulsory education laws, few 15-year olds have time for this, no matter how badly they need the money. Children who are old enough to work often have their money taken away by their parents.
Children are not allowed to leave home until they are 18. If they do, the police bring them back, or arrest them. Even if they do successfully run away from home, they have no way they can legally support themselves, so they have to turn to illegal activities, like panhandling and prostitution.
Related link
The Prison of Childhood
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