Ensuring Children Rights to Education - Article Example

Summary of The Article “The Child Rights To An Open Future” By Joel Feinberg Introduction In the article “The child rights to an open future” by JoelFeinberg, the author talks about the basic rights for children and the utility of education in determining their future. Children are naïve in their nature and so the adults easily impose their decision on them. This is true that children are immature and so they need a proper guidance for their future, but sometimes the adults are responsible in putting some extra burden on them. We often talk about the education of the children but we overlook some basic things of education. Education does not get success if it fails to provide knowledge to an individual internally. A person may have many educational qualifications but it all becomes useless if the person is not educated internally. Questions addressed in the article The article speaks about the rights of a child to a bright future and in assessing the subject of the article; the author has invariably answered several questions. The questions, which the authors have touched upon, are why and how should the children be educated. Though the author majorly discusses about the two questions, in his discussion he has touched upon some minor points like the constituents of the curriculum and the authority of decision making about child’s education. Summary of the article In the first part of the article, the author Joel Feinberg has discussed the basic rights of the children. The rights discussed are not based on the subject of education only but it is based on variant practices of the social system. The author at the beginning has mentioned some religious matter. Adults take their children to particular religious ceremonies according to their choice and not on their children’s preferences. This could be a simple issue for the adult but it has a huge impact on our society as the children from the early age are ordered to listen to the parents. We seldom consider the rights of the children; we impose our decisions on them. The author has mentioned some of the rights, which are common to both the adult and the children. He has called them as ‘A-C’ rights. The A category rights are exclusive to the adults while the C category rights are described as integral to the children. He has divided the C category rights in two parts. Part one talk about the dependency of the children on the adult, like protection, home or shelter, food etc, which are familiar characteristics of the children. However, the author is more concerned about the second category of C rights. Author has called it as ‘anticipatory autonomy rights’ which refers to some rights of the children which they would be able to avail once they attain a minimum age. In the article, some rights have been explained that are very difficult to distinguish into categories, like opinion about the political matter of an individual whether be an adult or children. Political view could easily be put in the A category rights but when it comes to children’s view, it then consider as a C category rights (Khuse & Singer, 2006, pp 214-216). He has discussed on the interest or the preferences of the children. The interests of the children might not be important for the adults but, in the children’s perspective they are an integral part of their existence. However, it may be noted that it is necessary for adults to influence the rights of children in some cases for a secured future. In the opinion of the author, “Respect for the child’s future autonomy, as an adult, often requires preventing his free choice now.” (Feinberg, 2006, p.2) The collision of interests leads to conflicts between the adults and the children. He has highlighted some of the common conflicts between the children and the adult. It generally comes in case of protection of personal interests for growth and development. Parents’ often forced their children to choose the way according to their choice. He cited the example of Amish children as an example to the above problem. The Amish values prevented the children to go for higher education. The US Government took the matter to the court which allowed the children to study (Kraybill & Olshan, 1994; pp. 77-79). In this case the state went against the basic rights of the Amish children. Therefore, it is confusing to state the standards for the basic rights of the children. The author underlines the importance of education in shaping the future of children. Education helps the children to attain the rights in future. The parents and the friends of the child play a vital role in shaping the future of the child. The parents are an integral part in the life of the children as they are responsible for the attainment of rights. As discussed earlier, the parents play a fundamental role in giving them education. The environment at home is also an integral part of the development of the child. The author supports the education system which helps a child to choose whichever sort of life he or she wants to go. Education should be neutral, in other words children should be educated in a neutral way, i.e. balancing both the necessity of the state and the necessity of the parents of the child. Arguments in regard to disparity of education Education should be neutral, in other words children should be educated in a neutral way, i.e. balancing both the necessity of the state and the necessity of the parents of the child. It has been seen in the history of the human civilization that there has been disparity in providing education according to the classes of the society. In the early days the children of the elite class like the kings and the noblemen received the best education and the lower classes were generally ignored. In the modern day, too, there have been instances where the lower level of economic classes of the society of the education is deprived of education. The education, today, have become a costly affair, and the poor does not have the affordability to garner education. However, education is one of the basic rights of the children and it is the basis to gain access to a bright future. Child Rights are essential freedom and the innate rights of all individual under the age of 18. These rights pertain to every child, irrespective of the cast, sex, religion, color, creed or other status. Children are innocent, naive and full of hope. Their upbringing should be joyful and loving (Veerman, 1992, pp. 4-8). Their lives should grown-up gradually, as they get new experiences. But for many kids, the reality of infancy is altogether different. Right through the past, children have been battered and exploited. They suffer from starvation and homelessness; work in risky environment, high infant mortality, and deficient health care and limited opportunity for essential education. A child should not live in such a life. Childhood can and definitely be preserved. Children have the right to live, build up, be protected and actively take part to take any decisions for their live (Archard & Macleod, 2002, pp 63-68). The author has described few rights of the children which are common to both in an adult a children. These are according to him ‘A-C’ rights. He has given importance to the second category of C kind of rights, i.e. the rights in trust. This right tells the right of the children when they will be an adult person. It can be said regarding this point that to get admittance to these kind of rights, it is imperative that the children get proper education. This particular type of right can be saved for their adulthood but it can be dishonored in advance. This right describes the autonomy of the child and in the process, securing his future. Children’s right advocates for an environmental perspective to access and indulge their families under pressure, an approach that strain the relationship between human being and their social environment (Khuse & Singer, 2006, pp. 214-216). In the context of the discussion, two types of schools are to be mentioned which occupy a high place in the history of education. They are as follows: Industrial schools Industrial schools were established in Britain during the Victorian and the Edwardian periods. The schools were generally aimed at teaching civic duties and empowering them with skills which would help the students to secure a brilliant future. The main components of these schools were children from the financially backward classes. Any child below the age of 14 found begging, or not having any shelter or proper custody, or having parents in prisons or under any legal punishment or imprisonment, etc, could be admitted to an industrial school. Children below the age of fourteen out of parents control or refractory usually; children under the age of 12, charged for certain offences but not convicted any kind of crime previously, could be treat with in a similar manner. The school taught the basic duties of citizenship or general education. In some cases courses were based at empowering the students to garner a definite skill for employment opportunities. There were day schools for full time students. Children who worked at shops or factories attended the part time night schools. They were directed to these schools by the magistrates. Industrial Schools were basically charitable organization but parents need to bear the maintenance cost of their childrens. This often proved impractical to get because the majority of the kids were homeless. The money had to be collected from government sources. As time moved on there was quite a lot of problems about the money mainly due to the fast expansion of the system. A few people believed it as the misuse of the public money. Majority of the magistrates preferred to send young criminals to the schools instead of jail. From 1870 onwards these schools became the liability of the Committee of Education. Similarly, a few day industrial schools were there too which were under control of the public school authorities (Smith, n.d., pp. 128-131). Ragged schools Another important movement for the spread of education was the introduction of the ragged schools. The education was a costly affair at that time and it was not possible for the poor children to afford it. The children, in many cases, had to work to support the family and attending school every day was not a viable option. The Government took note of the situation and formed schools for the poor children. The schools were dependent on people who were likely to help the poor children in the education. (Maclagan, 1851, pp. 109-113). The children who went to attend the school only wore ragged clothes with bare foot. That is why these schools were called as ragged schools. In the absence of good clothing they were unable to attend the other types of schools. Working in the poorest towns and cities, teachers (generally the local working people) primarily utilized those buildings as could be easily affordable like stables, balcony space, railway arches etc. These schools basically emphasized on reading, writing and arithmetic - and of course bible study. Later it was extended to industrial and commercial issues. The growth was significantly aided by the movements of the Ragged Schools Union (RSU) which was established in 1844 under the leadership of Lord Shaftesbury, with propagandists like Thomas Guthrie and writers like Charles Dickens (Maclagan, 1851, pp 55-60). It is predicted that almost 300,000 children underwent the London Ragged Schools only within the initial years of 1840s and 1881. However, it has to be noted that the system of education in these schools were not developed as the teachers came from the working class. The emphasis of these schools can be discussed with the help of some references from the article. The article took the example of the Amish children who were denied education by their family. This gives a clear picture of those people who are bounded with rituals and religious matter. Amish are very typical in nature. Every single member in an Amish family is considered a useful member of the community incorporating the children. Irrespective of the age and gender, the Amish child, need to perform certain tasks and responsibilities from sunrise to sunset. All Amish kids are required to go to school from the first grade to the eighth grade. Amish children do not go public schools. They generally go to a one-room school that is close to their homes. This suggests they are not ready to accept the modern technology and the modern education as they think these are misleading for their lives. The parents of Amish children do not want to see their children as the doctor, engineer or some respectable professionals rather they want their children should follow their traditional profession. (Cooper, n.d., pp 218-222) In this case the Government directed the Amish people to let their students go for higher education. However, the neutrality of the education system has not been maintained. As a reader we think it is the life of the Amish people and they are the ideal person to judge which one is good and which one is bad for them. If they are happy with their current occupation and the education system then we do not impose our decision on them. He has beautifully described the case that once happened in USA and he had asked for a neutral education system (Hirst & White, 2001, pp 250-252). Therefore, the situation is same where the education is dependent on the financial stability of the students. They cannot be admitted to public schools and hence the quality of education is below par for these students. As the education is affected, they are not liable for the anticipatory rights in the future and the access to a bright future is endangered. Conclusion The above discussion suggests that both of these two kinds of schools were meant for only the poorer people. Generally the working class family sent their children to these kinds of schools because they did not had any money to afford a good school for their children. The situation has not improved and it is only the financially stable class that is getting the benefits of quality education. Thus, they have more chance to get the anticipatory rights and secure a better future. The backward ck\lasses have the rights to education, but in most cases the quality offered is poor. Therefore, the backward classes remain backward and the upper classes continue to develop. References 1. Archard, D. & Macleod, 2002, The Moral and political status of children. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2. Cooper A, n.d. Social Welfare Pioneers. Lanham: Rowman & Little publishing group 3. Feinberg, J. 26th June, 2006. ‘The child rights to an open future’. In Whose Child? Parental rights, Parental Authority and State Power, W. Aiken, H. LaFollette, Totowa, NJ: Littlefield, Adams & Co. 4. Hirst, Pul. H. & White, P. 2001, Philosophy of education. London: Routledge 5. Khuse, H. & Singer, P. 2006, Bioethics an Anthology, New York: Wiley-Blackwell 6. Kraybill, D. and Olshan, M, 1994. The Amish struggle with Modernity, Lebanon: University Press of New England 7. Maclagan, A. 1851. Ragged School Rhymes, Edinburgh: Johnstone and Hunter 8. Smith, H. n.d. Establishing Industrial Schools. Biblio Life Reproduction Series. 9. Veerman, Philip E. 1992. The Rights of the Child and the Changing Image of The Childhood, Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers Read More