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Running head: CHILDREN’S RIGHTS 1
The Development of Children’s Rights: The Social, Religious, Educational, Political, and Legal
Aspects Regarding the Abuse and Violence of Children
Holly A. Brennan
Tiffin University

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Our national myth is that we love children… Yet we are starving thousands. Other thousands
die because decent medical care is unavailable to them. The lives of still other thousands are
stifled by poor schools, and some never have a chance to go to school at all. Millions live in
substandard and unfit housing in neighborhoods which mangle the human spirit.
~ Former Senator Walter Mondale, 1970

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Dedication
The student would like to dedicate this paper to the city of Tiffin’s CASA (Court
Appointed Special Advocates) organization for helping to communicate the opinions of children
in the criminal justice system- a place where everyone gets a lawyer except the child. The
student would also like to thank Monica Rich, a fellow Forensic Psychology student at Tiffin
University, for introducing the CASA program and what it means to be an advocate for young
people.

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Acknowledgements
Holly would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the people who encouraged her to
be a sworn advocate. First, the student would like to thank Monica Rich, a fellow Forensic
Psychology student at Tiffin University, for introducing the CASA program and what it means to
be an advocate for young people. In addition, the student appreciates the guidance from her
mentor, Dr. Steven Hurwitz. Holly thanks Rebecca Herner and Jane Flechtner for their support
and guidance during the internship. Lastly, the student would like to acknowledge all those who
fought and continue to fight for children’s rights. You truly make a difference in the world.

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The Development of Children’s Rights: The Social, Religious, Educational, Political and Legal
Aspects Regarding the Abuse and Violence of Children
Some parents believe that they own their offspring, and to an unfortunate extent, this is
true. American citizens have rights regardless of age, however, and up until the late 1960s
children barely had any rights of their own. As part of the Convention on the Rights of Children,
Article 6 demands that ―State Parties shall insure to the maximum extent possible the survival
and development of the child‖ (Britto, 2012, p. 94). To those parents not as committed to their
children, this is the basic type of care that is given. Emotionally negligent parents ensure
survival and that is about it. Children need more in life than just the few tools to exist. Violence
and abuse cannot help a child develop appropriately. Britto’s (2012) policy implications reveal
the ―serious negative impact of violence and abuse on basic survival and development. Violence
against children is a global problem, in that large a proportion of children in every society suffers
significant violence within their homes‖ (p. 95). So, what is the government doing about this?
Unfortunately, there is no particular era or chunk of time deemed the Children’s Rights
Movement; unlike the specific decades associated with the Civil Rights Movement and the
Women’s Rights Movement.
Throughout the Civil Rights Movement into the 1970s, not many rights had been
established for kids. The Children’s Rights Movement was a slow crusade that thankfully called
for change involving the treatment and education of children, in addition to basic child
protection. The researcher will discuss the social, religious, educational, political, and legal
aspects regarding the abuse and violence of children in the juvenile justice system with a forensic
psychology perspective. Additionally, the student believes it is important to look at the
international convention on the rights of the child in addition to disclosing information about her

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experience at Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA).
The literature of the Children’s Rights Movement is vast, but nowhere near the amount
that can be found regarding the rights movements of African Americans or women. Editors
Beatrice and Ronald Gross (1977) note the fact that ―children‖ and ―youth‖ were not even major
categories in most libraries or bookstores back in the 1970s (p. 4).One makes a note of this
because it seems like the individual rights of children were not taken seriously until the twentieth
century. Children were a type of slave to both parents and society. A child must do as his/her
parents tell them, but to what extent? If they get home from school and immediately are
subjected to abuse, then those children are most likely not going to succeed in the world. What
is even more shocking is that some of these children who are abused at home become victim-
bullies (Nansel et al., 2003).
There is a misperception of child abuse and neglect in America. People in the United
States nowadays probably envision the violation of children’s rights as kids who fall victim to
abusive child labor practices or those living in poverty.What people do not understand is that
child abuse and neglect is much more than that. Emotional and psychological abuse is just as
damaging to a child as hard labor. There was a time in our country when children were
subjected to physical dangers, but thankfully, there are many rights for children in the United
States now that apply to their well-being. However, it was a long and tedious journey that the
American child endured to obtain these rights.
Further, a disturbing notion is that animal’s rights were established before children’s
(Hawes, 1991, p. 20)! It is the norm in America to own animals, not necessarily to own kids
though. What the author means by this is that parents have the responsibility to keep children
safe and they have the ability to make decisions for them until the age of 18, but kids are not

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property. Their best interest needs to be taken into consideration. The researcher focuses
primarily on social, religious, educational, political, and legal aspects. The nature of this paper
centers mainly on the United States, but it does examine the international convention on the
rights of the child. With that being said, the researcher discusses how the child is affected
socially and religiously, giving examples of cases that CASA (Court Appointed Special
Advocates) has encountered. Sociology is a key component in the lives of children involved in
the juvenile justice system. The social, political, educational and legal aspects regarding the
abuse and violence of children in the criminal justice system is best looked at with a forensic
psychology perspective.
Background
The historical perception of children in general is interesting to analyze.There is no set
time era that embodies the children’s rights movement. It really was an excruciating process that
took many leaders and organizations years to accomplish. Unbelievably, children’s rights date
back to colonial times and they had the fewest rights in this time period. Children seemed to get
more attention throughout the nineteenth century and the progression slowly cruised through the
twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Colonial Era
According to Hawes (1991), rights for children included ―a start in life, and freedom from
excessive abuse‖ (p.1). Everyone in that era had a place and children had theirs. If they deviated
from society’s expectations they would be punished; some more severe than others. The issue
was that children were rarely seen as individuals. If disciplining the child got out of hand i.e.
excessive beatings, then the government could then step in. Hawes (1991) explains, ―This power
to intervene, on behalf of the child, even in the biological family, stems from the doctrine of

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parenspatriae: the state is the ultimate parent of every child‖ (p. 2). This is under common law,
of course. According to Hawes (1991), the colonists in New England regarded themselves as a
collection of families rather than individuals; so, to them the notion of individual rights would
have been strange because they viewed isolated individuals as a danger to the peace of society
(p. 2).
During this time era, verbal and physical disciplines were popular forms of
punishment in addition to public shaming. Britto (2012) validates this perception by making the
realization that strong verbal and corporal punishment are ―often linked to a combination of
interconnected personal, familial, social, economic, and cultural factors‖ (p. 96). A study
conducted by Lansford and Deater-Deckard in 2012 verifies Britto and confirms how
childrearing has not changed a whole lot throughout the centuries. They concluded that almost
one third of mothers agreed with the use of physical punishment as a necessary part of raising a
child.
The relationship between parent and child involved a set of mutual obligations. Children
obeyed their parents, just as the Bible commanded them to and parents were obligated to meet
the child’s basic needs i.e. education to the broadest sense and means by which the child could
leave the home and become an adult (Hawes, 1991, p.3). Taken from English law, the colonist’s
first law focused on punishing difficult children. This law also gave the child an opportunity to
disclose whether or not they had been abused or if they were acting in self-defense. The revision
of this law called, the Stubborn Child Law, did not allow the later part, but it did widen the
definition of rebellious children and require the ―stubborn child‖ to appear before the court
(Hawes, 1991, p.5). These were the first couple of laws that helped to protect children. While

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the government intervened when physical abuse occurred, they began to intervene when
educational needs were lacking.
Nineteenth Century
Hawes (1991) discusses ―The Age of Institution Building,‖ which was from 1800-1890.
Institutionalization is an important concept when it comes to children’s rights (Meyer, 2007, p.
125). The nineteenth century involved a number of social efforts designed to improve children’s
lives and, in some cases, to protect their rights (p. 11). John Locke was an influential man during
this period and his ideas helped the Puritans to see positive aspects within the ominous doctrine
of original sin. Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding helped most Puritan ministers
to apply the idea that a child was a tabula rasa at birth. This means that a child’s psyche would
be blank or neutral at birth. How does this apply to building institutions though? Hawes (1991)
explains,
In effect, the Enlightenment triumphed over original sin by emphasizing the primacy of
environmental influences in shaping individual character and conscience. Children
therefore deserved to be saved from the evils of an industrializing society, but they also
represented the future and the possibilities of a better life. Thus, Americans built schools
to provide a disciplined and literate work force and to give poor children a chance to
improve their lives. (p. 11).
Not only did Americans start building more schools, they built special institutions for kids who
were already in difficult situations in hopes that they might be re-formed. In all honesty, the
building of institutions really did not do much in regards to expanding the rights of children, but
it did demonstrate how the government could in fact exercise its powers under parenspatriaeand

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actually intervene directly in the lives of children (Hawes, 1991, p. 13). Some parents did not
like this at all and thought the government had absolutely no right to interfere.
After doing much research, the author discovered that those parents, who tend to disagree
with the enacting of children’s rights, were most likely using the child as a source of income.
The reason for this is because children routinely worked in mills, factories, sweatshops, and on
farms; all of which help the family financially, but involved hazardous conditions. If the
government is mandating children to attend school, then they will be unable to help provide for
the family. Bryant (2010) discusses a time in 1832 when United States’ New England of
Association of Farmers, Mechanics, and Other Working-men condemned child labor, but
according to Phelps, children were commonly exploited. Here are two revelations- the laws
during that time were not enforced and some adults were affected by children being treated
unfairly, while others just cared about money and making a profit off of cheap child laborers.
Phelps speculates the reason is that children are easier to manipulate than adults are and the
author agrees with this statement since kids do not know better. This can be applied to sexual
manipulation, psychological manipulation, etc. In fact, the student has read case studies from
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) that documents various types of exploitation of
children including sexual, physical, and mental –one cannot discuss the specific cases because
that would breach confidentiality. In general, children are innocent and adults take advantage of
that fact.
A great development of the Children’s Rights Movement in the nineteenth century was
the founding of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (SPCC) in 1875. This ―was
the first specific, formal response to the question of child abuse and child neglect‖ (Hawes, 1991,
p. 13). The word cruelty helped to refine the concept ―abuse‖ so that parents better understood

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what acceptable punishment is and what is cruel. Since the colonial period already established
that children have the right to live and grow and that it is the family’s duty to preserve that right,
the SPCC helped expand the idea that a public agency can intervene in order to protect a child
from abuse and neglect. Some neglected children would go to houses of refuge, but the author
will not be discussing the refuge movement because that could be a completely different paper in
itself.
The story of New York SPCC is very interesting and it is quite familiar to those who
study children’s rights. A volunteer social worker found that no agency was willing to arbitrate
on behalf of a 10-year-old girl who was abused and neglected by her stepmom. The social
worker was so desperate that she turned to Henry Bergh who worked with the Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). He arranged to have the child brought to court and
the judge actually placed the young girl in the temporary care of the SPCA. The SPCA then
arranged for a foster home. Elbridge Gerry, the SPCA’s general counsel, helped found the new
organization in 1875 (Hawes, 1991, p. 20). This is such a feat in the Children’s Rights
Movement, but the fact that this was born from an organization against animal cruelty is
unbelievable.
The 1880s brought large developments for children’s rights. First, Bryant (2010)
explains that the national convention of the American Federation of Labor passed a resolution in
1881, calling on the United States to ban children under age 14 from employment (Appendix, p.
ii). Second, the Brooklyn SPCC defined cruelty as:
a. all treatment or conduct by which physical pain is wrongfully, needlessly, or excessively
inflicted, or
b. by which life or limb or health is wrongfully endangered or sacrificed, or

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c. neglect to provide such reasonable food, clothing, shelter, protection, and care as the life
and well-being of the child require;
d. the exposure of children during unreasonable hours of inclement weather, as peddlers or
hawkers, or otherwise;
e. their employment is unwholesome, degrading, or unlawful callings;
f. or any employment by which the powers of children are over-taxed or their hours of labor
unreasonably prolonged; and
g. the employment of children as mendicants, or the failure to restrain them from vagrancy
or begging. (Hawes, 1991, pgs. 21-22).
From the above list is a sort of bill of rights for children. It explains that kids have the right to
be safe, free of excessive physical abuse by parents. It also implies the rights to necessities such
as development, which does include the right to be free of harmful or dangerous employment.
As one read through the history of child labor laws, it reminded the student of a song by John
Lennon named ―Working Class Hero‖ (Appendix, p. v). The song defines the life of a lower or
middle class worker. The songwriter details the transition of child laborer to adult laborer. The
first two versus specifically describe the harsh life of child labor.
The children’s rights movement in the United States began to progress even more
towards the end of the nineteenth century. People were optimistic and willing to change
because citizens of America were concerned with what was happening to American society,
American values, and most importantly to American children. One important law that was
enacted is the Illinois Juvenile Court Act (Bryant, 2010). It established the first juvenile court
system in the world.Creating a separate trial court for juveniles was a milestone. Some believed
that if we expose children to adult criminals in the court system that we would possibly breed

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more criminals. Further, we may accidentally make criminals out of children who are not
criminals by treating them as if they were criminals (Bryant, 2010). If a child was mandated to
go to court, the parents could bring a lawyer as their own defense. No one was actually there to
represent the child. Going to court is a traumatic event for any child, let alone not
understanding ―legalese.‖ Let us fast-forward to the late seventies, when the Children’s Rights
Movement was at its peak.
Twentieth Century
Judge David Soukup, who was involved with the juvenile courts system, was all together
dissatisfied with the same case plan and same recommendations he received for child after
child. He believed that more individualized attention would produce better outcomes, varying
from situation to situation. Judge Soukupwanted to hear what the child had to say regarding
their fate and the outcome of the case. He solicited ideas for system improvement from court
staff. Out of these ideas evolved community volunteers acting as child advocates or guardian ad
litem. According to the National CASA Volunteer Manual:
The term ―ad litem‖ means for the suit‖ or ―for the court case.‖ It is an old concept—in
Anglo Saxon times, at common law, the king appointed a guardian ad litem to speak on
behalf of a child or incompetent person.As part of their general powers, judges today
have the discretion to appoint a guardian ad litem (GAL) in all types of court matters.
Some states require that the guardian ad litem be an attorney; others do not.In 1974, the
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) mandated the appointment of a
guardian ad litem in child abuse and neglect cases; it was no longer up to the judge’s
discretion.(V1-3).

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The Volunteer Guardian ad Litem Program began in 1977 in King County, which is in
Seattle, Washington. While some guardian ad litem are attorneys, one does not have to be an
attorney in order to represent the child in court. The program recruited volunteers from the
community and provided training and support. The National Court Appointed Special Advocate
Association (National CASA) was created in 1982 to support volunteer child advocate programs
and increase the number of volunteer child advocates nationwide (p. V1-3).The author is very
familiar with CASA because she went through the appropriate training to become an advocate,
which involved 30 seated hours and attending six hours of court hearings. A child is appointed a
CASA when the judge needs an unbiased, third party’s opinion.
Parents typically decide what is best for their children and then provide it for them to the
extent that they can. Additionally, there are sociological values that society typically deems
more important than others are and these include religion and culture. These are aspects of
children’s’ lives that need to be taken into consideration because the two affect the amount of
rights that children do or do not have. Parents are their child’s best advocates though and they
need to support and protect their children both mentally and physically to the best of their ability
regardless of religion and culture.
The child protection system intervenes in families’ lives when parents choose not protect,
promote, and provide for their children’s basic needs. A CASA/GAL volunteer becomes the
advocate when the parents cannot—or will not—fulfill this role (National CASA Volunteer
Manual, p. V1-8). Judges use the ―best interest of the child‖ standard when making their
decisions in child abuse and neglect cases. Currently, the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child have been and still are concerned with the child’s best interest (Bradshaw,
2011, p. 548); however, child welfare, juvenile court practitioners, and scholars have debated the

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meaning of ―best interest of the child‖ for years. Books have been written on the subject;
however, there is still no concise legal definition for this standard.Domestically, not having a set
definition is hard enough, but what happens with children’s rights internationally?
The mid-1900s produced a bundle of legislation and treaties aimed at reducing abuse and
violence against children. The trend began with the Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.
Britto (2012) reveals the fact that the United Nations General Assembly considered the various
policies legally binding once they were ratified by a country, according to the United Nations
Department of Public Information (1997). The main purpose of the development of rights
implementations was ―to protect human rights through principles of equality and
nondiscrimination‖ (Britto, 2012, p. 92). Shortly after the Declaration of Human Rights was
established, the Convention on the Rights of the Child was employed. One of the most important
elements of the twentieth century was in fact the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It was
and still is a key factor in international policies regarding children.
Convention on the Rights of the Child
The twentieth century saw an exciting change of heart regarding children’s rights by
implementing the international Convention on the Rights of the Child. This policy is a human
rights treaty that was conceived by the United Nations. It was actually the original ―legally
binding international convention to comprehensively incorporate‖ civil, political, educational,
social, health and cultural rights of children (Britto, 2012, p. 92). In fact, the Convention on the
Rights of the Child is the only instrument that openly acknowledges early childhood and the
importance of the developing child.It explains the necessary environment that would ensure that
everyone, not just children ―develop to their full potential‖ (Britto, 2012, p. 93). For example,
the United Nations reiterates the importance of cognitive and socioemotional caregiving by

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parents and it upholds that family, as ―the most proximal context and [is] the natural environment
for survival and development‖ (Britto, 2012, p. 93). Figure 1 demonstrates proximal to distal
context for human development according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child duty
bearers and claimants. What this
diagram illustrates is the idea that
parents, guardians, and/or the main
caregivers do have the main
responsibility of raising children,
but the Convention on the Rights of
the Child also identifies the need
and required assistance from the
community, government, and international community to create optimal environments (Britto,
2012, p. 93-94).Hart (2011), who wrote ―Psychological Maltreatment – Maltreatment of the
Mind: A Catalyst for Advancing Child Protection toward Proactive Primary Prevention and
Promotion of Personal Well-Being‖, validates this paradigm based on psychological factors.
Hart (2011) discusses how psychological maltreatment, known as psychological abuse or
neglect, directed to the child by a parent can be detrimental to development. Further, if there are
no resources provided to the family by the local government then the child has an even lesser
chance of surviving. For instance, legitimate child care services and parenting intervention
programs need to be implemented. Countries that apply their policies are linked with those
containing better-quality mental health services and improved parenting classes (Britto, 2012, p.
94).
General Comment no. 13 to the Convention on the Rights of the Child entitled, ―The
Figure 1

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Right of the Child to Freedom from All Forms of Violence: Changing How the World
Conceptualizes Child Protection‖ is an important article to review when researching the aspects
of violence and abuse of children. Lee (2011) emphasizes the need to ―completely change the
manner in which violence against children is understood‖ (p. 967). What the author means is
that we, as a society, need to avoid fragmented ideas regarding child protection and instead stress
the need to build a comprehensive framework for child protection. Further, Holly and Rebecca
Herner (2012) agree with Lee (2011) in that an evaluation tool must be developed that
appropriately measures accountability. The student will later discuss the advocate evaluation
questionnaire pertaining to this matter.
Twenty-First Century
Many child laws have been passed within the last decade. The most controversial, some
might say, is the No Child Left Behind Act. The law was originally passed during the Johnson
administration, but it was known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. It was not
enforced diligently, which is why many people do not even know of it. However, The Bush
administration actually joined with the Democrats in 2001 to make its focus the use of
standardized test scores in schools. This policy served minority students specifically.The Obama
administration took a different route with this legislation and they proposed torenovatethe No
Child Left Behind Act in March 2010. The new idea encouraged states to raise the bar regarding
academic standards. Instead of identifying thousands of mediocre-managed schools as
ultimately failing, Obama’s idea aimed to redirect energies and turn around the few thousand
schools that are in the worst of shape. In due course, the states were to assumea new set of
academic standards directed toward college preparation and/or career training by the time the
time high school students go to graduate. Eventually, this idea is supposed to replace the current

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2014 deadline that works to bring every American child to academic proficiency, which is a
largely dismissed goal and is very unrealistic. Congress planned to renew the law in 2007, but
there is no sign of action thus far, unfortunately. The most recent accomplishment concerning
No Child Left Behind was in October 2011. A vote in favor of a bipartisan bill by the Senate
education committee would undo the requirements of the law that utilizes―standardized test
scores in reading and math to label tens of thousands of public schools as failing‖ (New York
Times, 2012).
Ever since the student began volunteering with CASA (Court Appointed Special
Advocates) here in Tiffin, she has discovered a passion for helping children in need. The reason
for this is because it seems like everyone gets a lawyer except the child and they are rarely asked
their opinion about the situation. The student is interested in being a voice for those children and
advocating for their rights. Similar to CASA, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
the Child believes that ―the primary consideration in all actions concerning children must be in
their best interest and their views must be taken into account‖ (Bradshaw, 2011, p. 548).A study
conducted in 2008 produced shocking results described by Bradshaw (2011). It was a macro,
country level analysis that gauged the life satisfaction on different levels. Figure 2 reveals one
finding that this student thought was the
most interesting. The graph exposes the
fact that young people who live in fair
or poor households –defined as living in
a workless household or receiving free
school meals– have lower well-being,
except in the family domain.The
Figure 2

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example includes data collected from over thirty countries. Overall, children’s life satisfaction at
a macro or national level does not seem to be associated with their satisfaction in the specific
areas of school or health. Further, there is no correlation between satisfaction level and child-
parental relationships or the family structure of a country (Bradshaw, 2011, p. 550).
Recommendations
The last portion of the paper discusses possible recommendations. The student looks at
ways to assist criminal justice professionals in dealing with children and how to provide
constructive criticism for parents. The researcher believes that her analysis of children’s rights
benefits criminal justice professionals such as correctional officers, court officials, police
officers, and/or psychologists from learning the historical and evolutionary details of children’s
rights. According to Hahn (1970), ―The extent to which local governments are able to respond
adequately to public dissatisfaction‖ play a large role in the safety of our children and citizens.
Therefore, child abuse and violence preventative plans are based on governmental willingness to
help.
Safety
There should be crisis intervention plans concerning the safety of children. Those
involved must be skilled and experienced mental health professionals. They must be ready and
prepared to appropriately deal with the trauma that children experience at such a young age.
Further, a national type of plan must be developed in order to keep everyone on the same page in
regards to safety and security protocol. One idea that the student has is to create and implement
an Advocate Evaluation Questionnaire for CASA. She wishes for it to be administered annually.

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Evaluation
CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) is currently lacking an informative
questionnaire(s) regarding the effectiveness of CASA volunteers. That is why an Advocate
Evaluation Questionnaire should be developed and routinely administered. The effectiveness
would be based on evaluations completed by the Executive Director of CASA, Rebecca Herner.
Families and children were taken into consideration for those able to take the questionnaire, but
that idea was dismissed because of the bias of some parents and the unlikelihood that young
children will be able to read and fully comprehend the questions asked. It would have to be a
longitudinal study for the purpose of collecting as much data as possible for each volunteer in
order to appropriately evaluate their effectiveness. Since many cases take longer than a year to
assess and close, the administration of the questionnaire should be no shorter than one year in
length.
The focus of this hypothetical questionnaire would be to evaluate, improve and change
the current volunteer questionnaire. The reason for this is because the present one entitled,
―Victim Assistance Satisfaction Survey‖ is lacking in useful information and it rarely is
administered by CASA. It does not fully take into consideration what the organization does, as
revealed by Rebecca Herner. While speaking with Mrs. Herner, Rule 48 was discussed. There
are many requirements of an active guardian ad litem and the following must be completed in
order to successfully help a child:
(a) Meet with and interview the child and observe the child with each parent, foster
parent, guardian or physical custodian and conduct at least one interview with the
child where none of these individuals is present;

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(b) Visit the child at his or her residence in accordance with any standards established by
the court in which the guardian ad litem is appointed;
(c) Ascertain the wishes of the child;
(d) Meet with and interview the parties, foster parents and other significant individuals
who may have relevant knowledge regarding the issues of the case;
(e) Review pleadings and other relevant court documents in the case in which the
guardian ad litem is appointed;
(f) Review criminal, civil, educational, and administrative records pertaining to the child
and, if appropriate, to the child’s family or to other parties in the case;
(g) Interview school personnel, medical and mental health providers, child protective
services workers and relevant court personnel ad obtain copies of relevant records;
(h) Recommend that the court order psychological evaluations, mental health and/or
substance abuse assessments, or other evaluations or test of the parties as the guardian
ad litem deems necessary or helpful to the court; and
(i) Perform any other investigation necessary to make an informed recommendation
regarding the best interest of the child. (Amendments to the Rules of Superintendence
for the Courts of Ohio, 2012).
This idea of a new questionnaire is important for CASA because it can potentially gauge the
effectiveness of each guardian ad litem and evaluate whether or not the person should continue
to advocate for children. The new questionnaire would include a Yes/No section at the end
pertaining to Rule 48 and whether or not the advocate completed the requirements. The
researcher, Holly Brennan, respects the fact that change takes time, but she believes that if this
recommendation is implemented then CASA will feel more comfortable with the work of their

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sworn advocates.A proper evaluation would have to be completed after an Advocate Evaluation
Questionnaire is sent out subsequent to the recommended 1-year trial period. Once the results
are gathered, informative and summative evaluations can then properly be compiled. Mrs.
Herener would monitor the outcome of those evaluations and will provide support and
remediation.
A Call to Action for National Policies
Helping countries across the world meet the basic needs for children is complicated. Of
course people want to see children grow up in a safe and healthy environment, but the possibility
of that happening consistently across every nation is unlikely. One of the most common sense
suggestions is to reduce violence and abuse of children. It is easier said than done. Ideally, the
government needs to ensure that children are being treated as human beings by their family
and/or guardians. Some may believe that is an invasion of privacy, but this student feels that it is
necessary in order to allow every person an opportunity to grow and contribute positively to this
world. One wishes that deprived children could get unlimited amounts of aid and support, but it
is just impractical because of the obscene amount of people who are economically drowning and
emotionally unsupported.
Providing basic nutrition and the chance for survival are key elements to helping children
at the most basic level. Further, cognitive and socioemotional interactions are necessary for
children to develop important social skills. Appropriate environments for children are a must
because a child cannot be successful in a dangerous or unhealthy place. In order for this to
happen, resources need to be allocated by proximal contexts because more distal economic
factors are influential in a child’s life.
Legal reform, prevention and intervention policies are essential to help countries increase

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moral concerning children. For instance, ―the goals of legal reform are to provide justice to child
victims of abuse and violence, reduce future offenses, and increase social controls on conditions
that promote and perpetuate violence, such as making corporal punishment an offense‖ (Britto,
2012, p. 99). A preventative measure could include services the support to reduce violence and
child abuse, including corporal punishment and neglect at home. Parents need to focus on
supporting their child and not being selfish, but selfless. They must be aware of harmful
behaviors because children do what they see in the form of modeling. Programs that intervene in
child abuse and violence are more therapeutic. They should maintain the goal to reduce stress
and the harmful impact of severe discipline and violence within the home.
Concluding Remarks
The student has gained a better understanding of the criminal justice system and how the
rights of children evolved. The researcher covered this subject because she cares about the
individual rights of children. She has explored information by checking-out books on children’s
rights, acquiring qualitative data from interviews at CASA, attending KONY 2012 presentation
at Tiffin University, and reading scholarly journals on child-related matters such as protection
and support, domestic and foreign policies, and invisible children. She made a legitimate effort
to do an in-depth analysis to uncover the reason children’s rights have been stifled all these
years.One of the researcher’s conclusions is that the reason children’s rights were not established
sooner is the issues revolving around the Civil Rights Movement and/or the Women’s Rights
Movement.
Overall, it is obvious that there is avital need for a concentrated effort of international-
level authorities. Agencies of the United Nations such as UNICEF, UNESCO, World Health
Organization, UNDP, etc. need to understand how important the development of children are and

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that enacting policies is a step, but implementing the policies is even more important. Further,
the European Council and other international nongovernmental organizations should collaborate
with United Nations agencies in order to conduct research and train institutions. We need to
further operationalize the stated global goals by following through with influence international
policy and finalizing strategic actions that are to be taken. The student has decided to continue to
spend much time researching the legislation regarding children.

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References
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Brennan, H., &Hern, R. (2012, February 13). Court Appointed Special Advocates.
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Britto, P. R. (2012). Child Development in Developing Countries: Child Rights and Policy
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