Just Because You're Paranoid Doesn't Mean the UN Isn't Out To Get You

At the end of the semester, I have to write a 4000-word paper for my Childhood Theory class. I must choose something related to children's lives and analyze it using two theoretical perspectives. If that sounds vague to you, I agree. But that is the UK way, and actually I love it, because I get to write about whatever I feel like! So I've been trying to decide what to write about, because 4000 words is a lot of words. Right now I'm really focused on the It Gets Better Project and the related Make It Better Project. How can I pass up the chance to write an academic paper about Dan Savage? Love that guy.


[Nerd Alert] Since I would be analyzing these two projects from a theoretical viewpoint, but only have half a semester's knowledge about how to do that, I spent today browsing journal articles to see how other people do it. At one point I thought, "Hey! Maybe I can use the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to analyze them!" (This was a stupid idea, because the UNCRC is not a theory, and a good example of why I need to not leave this paper until the last minute.)

Even if that hadn't been a stupid idea because the UNCRC is not theory, it was a stupid idea because the US has never ratified the CRC. Of course Dan Savage's work is not federal policy (oh, the possibilities!). It would still be tricky to analyze his projects, which base their activism on US anti-discrimination law, in terms of a UN policy document that the US doesn't recognize. [End Nerd Alert]

I decided to procrastinate by Googling "UNCRC America" to find out why we haven't ratified this document. The only other country that hasn't is Somalia. Apologies to Somali pirates, but do we really want that company?

Here are some of the links that popped up:

Say Goodbye to Your Children America...the anti-family UNCRC!
Fight the UNCRC-Stand Up For Family Rights
Teaching Children that Authority Doesn't Matter: UNCRC Article 12
UNCRC Assault on Parental Rights to Be Expedited
Somalia to join child rights pact (Uh oh!)

Based on the scientific method called "clicking around" it would appear that the big issue here is parental rights vs. child rights and the ideological difficulty of making friends with the UN. Also homeschooling, with a dash of paranoia.

As the last link points out, not signing the CRC does not mean that the US is somehow violating children's rights, or that states can't be in line with the CRC in many ways without having the document officially ratified. I just think it's a neat little illustration of US attitudes toward the rest of the world.

Women's Work

I think I introduced myself to more people during the first few weeks of this program than I have in my entire life. When you are sitting in a giant lecture hall full of strangers, it's easy to insert yourself into someone else's conversation. Tip #1: it helps if you have acquired New York City social skills, meaning you don't have boundaries and expect the same of others. Tip #2: this behavior goes over well with strangers in a lecture hall and less well with Scottish people at the bus stop.

"I'm doing a PhD in Comparative European politics with a focus on the implications of Stalinist Russia as applied to recruitment methods used by the KGB. You?"

I encountered one person who was familiar with Childhood Studies. Everyone else nodded vaguely and moved on to the next person who needed introducing. Ah, Childhood Studies...ah, women's work.

My favorite moment of academic swagger happened in a class called "Analysing Development Aid". The room was packed--there is a new program for African Studies and because of the way the University handles admissions and attendance, I don't think they knew exactly how many people were going to show up on the first day. The answer: everyone. Everyone showed up.

The professor knew that the university wouldn't let everyone take the class. She nicely pointed out that people who weren't in the African Studies program should probably leave because "I don't want to waste your time." Nobody moved. Rumblings of outrage started. Finally after ten minutes of awkward waffling, she ordered them to get out, saying, "Welcome to international development!" Ouch.

I'd say a large part of my work around children is to advocate for their humanity--their validity as current beings rather than as cute little partially formed grownups. This is a hard thing to do. But at least my field isn't based on to-the-death competition. Nobody ever slapped me in the face and said, "Welcome to child policy work." Not yet, anyway.

Oh Small Citizens, What Is Your Future?

When I started the blog over the summer, I was intending to kill time writing funny anecdotes about working with children before I went off to grad school. Then of course, I would be immersed in study and generate all kinds of insightful musings on the place of children in society.

The first part has come true. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how interesting theories of childhood are to outside readers, although of course I think everyone should care about this. I’ve been putting off writing on the blog since I started school because I didn’t know if I would have enough to write about to make it worth keeping.

However! One reason I started this was to force myself to practice writing, no matter who was actually reading it. Writing will hopefully be a major part of my future endeavors and I keep hearing that the only way to become a good writer is to…write. So Small Citizens gets a stay of execution, and anyone who feels like reading is welcome along for the (non-rollercoastery) ride.