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THE GIVER by Lois Lowry: Issues

Eugenics

           

EUGENICS IN AMERICA, Early 20th Century               Nazi poster 1938 showing ideal man & woman

Human Rights

 

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 (General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected and it has been translated into over 500 languages

 

  

 

Children as well as adults have human rights. Children also have the right to special protection because of their vulnerability to exploitation and abuse.

The main international human rights treaty on children’s rights is the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The CRC is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in the world. Australia ratified the CRC in December 1990, which means that Australia has a duty to ensure that all children in Australia enjoy the rights set out in the treaty.

The CRC incorporates the whole spectrum of human rights - civil, political, economic, social and cultural - and sets out the specific ways these rights should be ensured for children and young people. The CRC recognises that children have the same human rights as adults, while also needing special protection due to their vulnerability.

Some of the guiding principles in the CRC are

  • respect for the best interests of the child as a primary consideration
  • the right to survival and development
  • the right of all children to express their views freely on all matters affecting them
  • the right of all children to enjoy all the rights of the CRC without discrimination of any kind.

 

The United States government is currently detaining parents who cross illegally into the United States. They are separating the parents from their children  and taking the children to separate detention centres. This is becoming a controversial issue which has received worldwide condemnation and criticism from within the States as well.