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This is a segment of a larger essay currently in process of composition under the above title. This project arose out of a perception that children are treated as less-than-equal in our society and institutions…and in Law. The Humanity of Children In Canada we have come a long way towards the securing of Human Rights, and the advances clearly extend to children and others. However we have hesitated to extend Civil Rights to children in our society, and most especially in that institutional setting [schools] in which children most commonly encounter their Nation, Culture and Government. Yet it must be seen that extending equal Civil Rights to a person is perhaps the single most important Human Rights concession. Therefore we can extend a wide range of protective measures and nurturing processes to our youngest and most vulnerable citizens and not extend Equality, and we have fallen short of true human value in our assessment of (our valuation of) children. The fact of the matter is encapsulated in the title of this essay; for children are truly Our Most Precious Treasures. This is why we protect them, nurture them, institute means and methods for their integration into society, and also why we are moved and motivated to insure their Rights by increments. This points to a uniquely Canadian economics theory in which Humanity and Humans/People are attributed a high value. Historically children, like men and women and all others in their turn, were not regarded as human and consequently they were not entitled to any kind of Human or Civil Rights. As it stands, even after a lengthy process of small steps in the direction of equality, our children suffer from their omission from equal treatment under The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Their government, institutions, processes and society militate against them and treat them as something less than Human. As a direct consequence of a universally accepted presupposition that children are not equal, young citizens are marginalized, mistreated and minimalized in the eyes of all who act in behalf of society. This includes Parliament and Legislative Assemblies, educational institutions of all kinds, law enforcement, the Courts and Judiciary, and even extends to those compassionate organizations that offer relief to young people in circumstances of trial or crisis. Everyone is blind to the fact that much of the “bad behavior” on the part of young people is a natural resistance to the accurately perceived inequity/inequality I have described in detail elsewhere in this essay. Forgive my impertinence, but is a blind man the only one who can see this ubiquitous blight upon our culture and society? There are economic consequences that arise from these conditions that result from the aforementioned presupposition. As children realize that they are powerless to participate as partners in society, they turn their innate creative powers to resisting the oppressive regime that claims to value them, but clearly does not value them equally with those of voting age. The major legislation [Education Act of Ontario and Code of Conduct for Schools] that deals with children turns the Law and Charter of Rights and Freedoms on its head by presuming guilt rather than innocence and by imputing culpability to those who have done nothing to deserve it other than having been born. [This calls into question the Constitutionality of such legislation as the Education Act of Ontario and similar laws of other jurisdictions.] This Resistance has enormous economic consequences in that we must find means, often expensive means, of dealing with the consequent interruptions to social and institutional functionality, whether in courts, schools or elsewhere that result from this set of circumstances. I am convinced that almost all Rights and Freedoms extended to an immigrant upon declaration of Citizenship in Canada can be extended to our naturally born or naturalized children. I would seriously hesitate to extend the Right to vote to most children, but many people who are too young to vote [apparently the age of majority and voting age in Iran is sixteen years] have a more evolved sense of civic responsibility and political awareness than many who are entitled to cast a ballot in elections of most kinds by virtue of their age. We encourage our children to “play” democracy and to play at it. We teach them about it in schools and in the media as well as clubs and organizations designed for their nurture, but we will not permit them to participate truly and fully in one of the greatest democratic experiments in human history. So children turn against those who represent their oppression: teachers, police officers, judges, politicians, clergy, parents and all others who conspire against their innate sense of Humanity. We can win the support and participation of our children by extending equal Rights and Equality to them, and we clearly need their help. The world is in the grip of a set of extreme crises. Removing many of the impediments to Equality that they face will free up enormous resources that are presently used in efforts to control them and will harness their power as our allies. But if they are democratic at birth as I have postulated, then they will be impossible to control as some might wish. Democracy resists oppression. Some years ago [1999] I submitted an essay to a millennial essay-writing competition sponsored by The Goethe Institute and the EEC Cultural Division. My essay submission was entitled “Natural Democracy”. In it I have argued that the values and conditions towards which Humanity strives in our timeless and universal search for Liberty are innate and integral to the Human condition. This is a desire to be Free and Equal. I argue further that the survival of our Global ecology and the political and biological future of Humanity rests upon recognition of these innate human features. I believe that Democracy is in us at birth and seeks opportunity for expression across the breadth of The World in all Nations, and all Peoples of all Faiths. Canada is a microcosm for The World in many respects, while also being a unique and wildly successful experiment in Democracy. Here we have implemented the politico-social model of The Vertical Mosaic [1] which provides a theoretical base for diversity, multiculturalism, multilingualism, as well as multi-faith. This historical precedent of people of all backgrounds and lifestyles living together in relative harmony and productivity with co-operation is important to the future of the world and our existent civilization. Canada has exhibited a capacity to be inclusive and respectful of people as people. We are in some ways forerunners of what the world must become in order to survive relatively intact for the next one to two hundred years. Therefore we have a responsibility and an obligation to maximize our cultural and social resources in order to effectively and efficiently share with people everywhere the results of this magnificent socio-politico-cultural experiment. This sharing must begin with our children who are the inheritors of our work and will be the only ones who can carry our values and technologies (Human technologies) into the future and share them with a needy world. We have the historic opportunity to nurture a generation of true young Canadian democrats and to unleash them upon a world that has learned to trust those who come bearing the emblem of The Red Maple Leaf. They could become an army of Ambassadors of Peace as many of our citizens already are. I believe in this county and all of those who strive diligently to maintain and improve it; to make it work. Our people have exhibited a trustworthy sense of Justice With Compassion and a capacity for excellent creativity and diligence. We have so much to share. We need only devise and implement effective development and delivery systems (and technologists) in order to export our amazing cultural technologies to a desperate and hurting world. These “cultural technologists” will be our children or they will be no one. [1] The Vertical Mosaic, John Porter, 1965. University of Toronto Press. Toronto, Canada. |