What is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and why is it so important that parents understand the ramifications of it?

The following information was taken from:

http://www.parentalrights.org

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

According to Amazines.com:

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, often referred to as CRC or UNCRC, is an international convention setting out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of children. Nations that ratify this international convention are bound to it by international law. Compliance is monitored by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child which is composed of members from countries around the world. Once a year, the Committee submits a report to the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, which also hears a statement from the CRC Chair, and the Assembly adopts a Resolution on the Rights of the Child.^[4]

Governments of countries that have ratified the Convention are required to report to, and appear before, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child periodically to be examined on their progress with regards to the advancement of the implementation of the Convention and the status of child rights in their country. Their reports and the committee's written views and concerns are available on the committee's website.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention and opened it for signature on 20 November 1989 (the 30th anniversary of its Declaration of the Rights of the Child).^[5] It came into force on 2 September 1990, after it was ratified by the required number of nations. As of December 2008, 193 countries have ratified it,^[1] including every member of the United Nations except the United States and Somalia.^[4][6]

Two optional protocols were adopted on 25 May 2000. The first one restricts the involvement of children in military conflicts, and the second one prohibits the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Both protocols have been ratified by more than 120 states.^[7][8]

^{This poses a serious threat both to parental rights and to U.S. sovereignty, as the UNCRC dictates not only that the federal government must intrude into the family sphere to an unprecedented degree, but also how the federal government is to monitor and govern the actions of our families.  Parental rights would be replaced by "the best interests of the child" as defined, ultimately, by an international committee of 18 people in Switzerland.}

^{To read more on the dangers of this treaty, and how it poses a serious threat to parental rights and American freedom, click on one of the subsections listed on the menu.}

The Threat: Attacks on Parental Rights

The right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children has been recognized and upheld for centuries. But there are dark clouds on the horizon.

Today parental rights are coming under assault from federal judges who deny or refuse to recognize these rights. Adding further danger to the child-parent relationship, international law seeking to undermine the parental role is advancing on the horizon. Together, these threats are converging to create a "perfect storm" that looms over the child-parent relationship.

In the early 1980s, a landmark parental rights case reached the Washington State Supreme Court. The case involved 13-year-old Sheila Marie Sumey, whose parents were alarmed when they found evidence of their daughter's participation in illegal drug activity and escalating sexual involvement. Their response was to act immediately to cut off the negative influences in their daughter's life by grounding her.

But when Sheila went to her school counselors complaining about her parent's actions, she was advised that she could be liberated from her parents because there was "conflict between parent and child." Listening to the advice she had received, Sheila notified Child Protective Services (CPS) about her situation. She was subsequently removed from her home and placed in foster care.

Her parents, desperate to get their daughter back, challenged the actions of the social workers in court. They lost. Even though the judge found that Sheila's parents had enforced reasonable rules in a proper manner, the state law nevertheless gave CPS the authority to split apart the Sumey family and take Sheila away.¹

DANGEROUS PRECEDENT

Parental rights are under attack in our nation, with the first threat originating from within the federal court system. As this story illustrates, a growing disregard for parental rights has been spreading within the courts of our nation.

Across the country, many judges are beginning to deny the vital role of parents in the lives of their children, instead inserting the government into a "parental" role in a child's life. This dangerous assertion is leading to the severance of the child-parent relationship in numerous instances across the nation—removals that cause unnecessary pain to both children and their parents.

A thirteen-year-old boy in Washington State was removed from his parents after he complained to school counselors that his parents took him to church too often. His school counselors had encouraged him to call Child Protective Services with his complaint, which led to his subsequent removal and placement in foster care. It was only after the parents agreed to a judge's requirement of less-frequent church attendance that they were able to recover their son.²

HANGING BY A THREAD

Not all judges hold a low view of parental rights. Some, like Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, believe that parental rights are among the "inalienable rights" of Americans enumerated in the Declaration of Independence but they are finding it increasingly difficult to rule in favor of parental rights when it is not explicitly included in the language of the Constitution.

In Troxel v. Granville, the last major parental rights case heard by the Supreme Court, Scalia himself voted to deny parental rights the status of an enforceable constitutional right. And other federal court judges are following in his footsteps, citing a mounting belief that no right can be protected by the federal courts unless explicitly stated in the Constitution.

The dwindling support for parental rights found on the federal level has opened the door to a growing, blatant disregard of parental rights within the lower courts of our nation. Parental rights violations are on the increase across the country, as courts exchange parental involvement for government control in the lives of America's children.

The right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children is hanging by a thread.

A West Virginia mother was shocked when a local circuit judge and a family court judge ordered her to share custody of her four-year-old daughter with two of the girl’s babysitters. Referring to the sitters as "psychological co-parents," the justices first awarded full custody to them, only permitting the mother to visit her daughter four times a week at McDonalds. Eventually she was granted primary custody, but forced to continue to share her daughter with the sitters.

When her case finally reached the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in October 2007, the beleaguered mother was relieved to finally be granted full custody of her daughter.

In their October 25 opinion Supreme Court justices wrote that they were "deeply troubled by the utter disregard" for the mother's rights. One justice referred to the mother’s right as the “paramount right in the world."

Chief Justice Robin Davis summed up the case in one simple question."Why does a natural parent have to prove fitness when she has never been found unfit?" he asked.³

THE THREAT FROM INTERNATIONAL LAW

The precarious state of parental rights within our nation is reason enough for serious concern. With cases like these filling the courts, every parent should be concerned about the protection and preservation of their rights.

But another storm is rapidly forming on the horizon.

International law that seeks to empower the government to intrude upon the child-parent relationship is becoming an increasing threat. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), a seemingly harmless treaty with dangerous implications for American families, is approaching possible ratification by the United States.

If this treaty is made binding upon our country, the government would have the power to intervene in any child's life to advance its definition of "the best interests of the child." The scenarios that could occur—and are occurring—as a result of this dangerous notion are both manifold and frightening.

Under the UNCRC, instead of following due process, government agencies would have the power to override your parental choices at their whim because they determine what is in "the best interest of the child."

In essence, the UNCRC applies the legal status of abusive parents to all parents. This means that the burden of proof falls on the parent to prove to the State that they are good parents—when it should fall upon the State to prove that their investigation is not without cause.

A SHELTER IN THE STORM

There is only one solution to this approaching storm: a constitutional amendment that places current Supreme Court doctrine protecting parental rights into the explicit language of the U.S. Constitution. This amendment will shelter the child-parent relationship from the coming storm, ensuring that parents have the right to direct the upbringing and education of their children.

No government, regardless of how well-intentioned it might be, can replace the love and nurture of a parent in the life of a child. Parents care, not because their children are "wards" for whom they are responsible. Parents are willing to brave danger and sacrifice, hardship and heartache to ensure the best for their kids.

Learn more about protecting parental rights through a constitutional amendment, and join the campaign now. We must not wait until it’s too late. Take this opportunity to sign the petition to protect parental rights today. 

Ten things you need to know about the structure of the CRC:

• It is a treaty which creates binding rules of law.  It is no mere statement of altruism.^1.
• Its effect would be binding on American families, courts, and policy-makers.^2.
• Children of other nations would not be impacted or helped in any direct way by our ratification.^3.
• The CRC would automatically override almost all American laws on children and families because of the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause in Article VI.^4.
• The CRC has some elements that are self-executing, while others would require implementing legislation.  Federal courts would have the power to determine which provisions were self-executing.^5.
• The courts would have the power to directly enforce the provisions that are self-executing.^6.
• Congress would have the power to directly legislate on all subjects necessary to comply with the treaty.  This would constitute the most massive shift of power from the states to the federal government in American history.^7.
• A committee of 18 experts from other nations, sitting in Geneva, has the authority to issue official interpretations of the treaty which are entitled to binding weight in American courts and legislatures.  This effectively transfers ultimate authority for all policies in this area to this foreign committee.^8.
• Under international law, the treaty overrides even our Constitution.^9.
• Reservations, declarations, or understandings intended to modify our duty to comply with this treaty will be void if they are determined to be inconsistent with the object and purpose of the treaty.^10.

Ten things you need to know about the substance of the CRC:

• Children would have the ability to choose their own religion while parents would only have the authority to give their children advice about religion.^13.
• The best interest of the child principle would give the government the ability to override every decision made by every parent if a government worker disagreed with the parent’s decision.^14.
• A child’s “right to be heard” would allow him (or her) to seek governmental review of every parental decision with which the child disagreed.^15.
• According to existing interpretation, it would be illegal for a nation to spend more on national defense than it does on children’s welfare.^16.
• Children would acquire a legally enforceable right to leisure.^17.
• Christian schools that refuse to teach "alternative worldviews" and teach that Christianity is the only true religion "fly in the face of article 29" of the treaty.^18.
• Allowing parents to opt their children out of sex education has been held to be out of compliance with the CRC.^19.
• Children would have the right to reproductive health information and services, including abortions,  without parental knowledge or consent.^20. 
• Parents would no longer be able to administer reasonable spankings to their children.^11.
• A murderer aged 17 years and 11 months and 29 days at the time of his crime could no longer be sentenced to life in prison.^12.

The Solution: The Parental Rights Amendment

The only solution to the attack on the child-parent relationship is the Parental Rights Amendment -- securing the rights of parents to raise their children. 

Only a constitutional amendment will ensure that the courts of our nation protect the fundamental right of parents to raise their children. And only a constitutional amendment will override international law that seeks to undermine the parental role. As the only complete solution to the danger confronting the child-parent relationship, the Parental Rights Amendment will place current Supreme Court doctrine protecting parental rights into the explicit text of the Constitution. Only the Parental Rights Amendment completely eliminates all threats to the child-parent relationship. It is the only comprehensive response to the attack on parental rights across our nation.

Below is the draft text for the Parental Rights Amendment.
View the annotated version here.

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DRAFT PARENTAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT
FOR THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

SECTION 1
The liberty of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children is a fundamental right.

SECTION 2
Neither the United States nor any state shall infringe upon this right without demonstrating that its governmental interest as applied to the person is of the highest order and not otherwise served.

SECTION 3
No treaty may be adopted nor shall any source of international law be employed to supersede, modify, interpret, or apply to the rights guaranteed by this article.

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QUICK FACTS ON AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION Only a constitutional amendment will ensure that parental rights will be honored in the United States, and protected from the threat of international law. Only 33 amendments have ever been passed by Congress, and of these, only 27 have been ratified by the states. Passing an amendment takes supporters at every level of government – in Congress, in committees, and in the states. Every American can play a vital role in this process by signing the petition and involving others in this campaign.

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A constitutional amendment will ensure that judges who are currently denying parental rights will be obligated to recognize them. It will ensure that judges who are presently refusing to recognize parental rights because of their lack of explicit protection within the Constitution will instead safeguard parental rights.

The founders of this country created a nation ruled by laws, not men. Placing parental rights into the text of the Constitution ensures that law will defend the American family. A constitutional amendment will shield the child-parent relationship from government intrusion, regardless of who sits on the Supreme Court.

Not only does an amendment adequately address the threat posed by judges who refuse to recognize parental rights, but it also meets head-on the threat against the child-parent relationship posed by international law.

HOW AN AMENDMENT PROTECTS THE FAMILY FROM INTERNATIONAL LAW

As a legally binding international treaty, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is capable of permanently altering the role of the parent within the American family. If ratified, the UNCRC becomes the law of the land, unable to be held in check by state or national legislation. The only way to protect the rights of parents from the destructive policies contained in the UNCRC is through an amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Presently, except in cases where a parent has been proven to be "unfit," American law presumes that the parent is acting in the best interests of the child, and defers to that parent's decision. The UNCRC, in contrast, supplants this traditional presumption in favor of parents with a new presumption in favor of the state.

The Senators who originally opposed the ratification of the UNCRC when it was originally signed by President Clinton in 1995 believed that the Convention marked a significant departure from the American concept of the relationship between state and child, and was incompatible with the right of parents to raise their children.

The only way to protect the vital role of parents from this cataclysmic shift is through amending the U.S. Constitution to reflect current Supreme Court doctrine which preserves the right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children.

That's why the Parental Rights Amendment is so important. If passed, the Parental Rights Amendment will protect and preserve the vital child-parent relationship for generations to come.

WHY NOW?

The judges on the Supreme Court will change over time, but the law will not. If the U.S. Constitution is amended to secure parental rights, the vital child-parent relationship will be effectively shielded from intrusion by the government.

Amending the constitution is an enormous task—requiring time, resources, vision, dedication, and hardworking people who will make it happen. But it is not impossible.

Timing is everything. Parental rights are in an uncertain state within the federal courts, and danger is on the way. In only a matter of time, international law could erase the rights that most American parents take for granted. That’s why time is of the essence. We can’t afford to wait until parental rights are gone before seeking to defend them—now is the time to take action.

You can play a vital role in the process of amending the Constitution by joining with ParentalRights.org in the fight to protect children and parents. If you believe that the vital role of parents in the lives of their children should be protected and preserved, then we need your participation in the campaign to pass the Parental Rights Amendment!

Sign the petition now to protect children by empowering parents, and recruit your friends to join the fight.

Please go to    http://parentalrights.org/    to learn more and see what  you can do to help stop this  from becoming law in our country.

We love nature walk Friday!!!

We went to Roper Mountain Science Center today for our Nature Walk. We enjoy doing this so much and always learn a lot and have a lot of fun. I wanted to spend some time around the pond today observing the "habitat" (they have been learning some about habitats), specifically the insects that inhabit the pond this time of year. We were looking for dragonflies and damsle flies.

They were everywhere and in beautiful colors!!! Here is a picture of a dragon fly we saw sitting on the bridge.

Rebekah stoped and pulled out her Nature Journal to draw a picture of the dragon fly. We also saw some very pretty blue damsle flies but were not able to get a picture of them.

We also observed at the pond some huge fish and turtles.

The kids were enamored with the fish and turtles. Every time we go they love to look at the turtles. A couple of weeks ago they got to see on on the land and got to touch it.

We saw 3 different species of fungus today and had a good lesson. The kids learned that fungus is not a plant that can make it's own food like green plants but that mushrooms must get thier nutrients from decomposing material they grow around. The kids learned that the mushrooms and fungus help to decompose the dead materials.Here are a couple of pictures of the mushrooms and fungus.

While we walked we were looking for signs of life in the woodland habitat. We found some deer prints and a white feather that we think may have come from a dove. We also found the sign that some life will be ending. We found the first of the seasons changed leaves. On the ground we found beautiful red leaves. This was a great opportunity to discuss what that means when we see the leaves change and why they change. We then discussed what the area may look like in a few months after the leaves have all fallen. Here are Keren and Hannah with thier first fallen leaves of the season. I think we may press these.

When we were almost ready to leave we headed back to the butterfly garden where I let the kids test out what they have been learning from thier readings in Paddle to the Sea. They tested how water flows and carries along items by putting leaves in the creek and watching the water carry it along until it got stuck on some object. We discussed how in the book what would happen if Paddle to the sea gets stuck. Would he ever make it to the sea? I like how we can take practical application to what we are reading about.

I loaded the kids up into the car red faced and tired but we all had a great time and had fun learning how God has put our world together.

School at the Pool and Ballerina Girls

Today was a great day of school! We took a step out of the ordinary and met some of our great homeschooling buddies at the pool. While there we ate our lunch and then read chapter 4 of "Paddle to the Sea" (they are also reading this book). What a great book, it really gets better every chapter as the discriptions get more vivid. The kids enjoyed hearing about the beaver pond and we discussed what a beaver's habitat is like. Hannah was very good at discribing why a beaver builds a dam and what it does to help create the habitat. The narrations on "Paddle to the Sea" were not what we would love to have but they did seem to get a lot from the chapter.
I read to Hannah the Wolf and the Kid from Aesops Fables and she did give a good narration on that. She remembered very well what a kid is from our last fable involving one. She was also able to tell me the moral of the story. The kids played in the pool for a while and then Gail called Hannah and Ethen out of the pool to do some math drills. They loved this. Gail would call out some addition problems while the kids stood on the side of the pool. If they got it right they got to jump in the pool. If they got it wrong they had to stand on the side and wait for thier turn to come around again. Hannah did well with this. Though we haven't gotten back into addition yet this year she remembered it well from last year. They then did the same thing with simple spelling words. Hannah is still a little slow on taking words apart phonetically to spell them but was able to get all of her words with a bit of help and most without help. In Fifty Famous Stories Retold we read about Diogenes the Wise Man. I really enjoy this book as I am learning things I never knew right along with the kids. Diogenes was a philosopher who was very well respected. he taught that men should not have more than what they need and that they need very little (this made for a good conversation). He did not live in a house with posessions nor did he have a bed to sleep in. He had a barrel that he slept in would roll it around where he went. He was a very happy man. When Alexander the great came to town everyone went to go see him, but not Diogenes. Diogenes was the only one that Alexander cared to see however so he sought him out. When he found him he was sitting on a mat in front of his barrel enjoying the sunshine. Alexander asked Diogenes what he would like for Alexander to do for him and Diogenes replied that he would like for Alexander to move over as to not block the sun light. Alexander the Great later told one of his servants that he was not Alexander the Great he would like to be Diogenes. It was a great lesson about contentment and happiness regardless of our things. Hannah was able to tie in this story to the one of Alexander the Great as a boy when he was able to tame the wild horse who became his faithful steed. I just love all the books we read because i can see the true value in them in the life of the children for now and for thier life to come. I see them learning things that they would not have learned from a text book in a way that captures their interest. Learning is coming alive, not just for them, but for me too. I am so blessed to be able to give them this gift and I thank God for allowing me to do so.
Anyway, I digress. AT 4:00 today the kids went to their first ballet class. They were so excited. They got to wear thier new leotards, tights, and ballet shoes for the first time. They looked so cute when I dropped them off. Afterwards, I briefly spoke with the teacher and she said they did well. Even though Rebekah is the youngest in the class, she was able to keep up well and her cordination was good. She did say that Rebekah was a bit shy when it was her turn to do something by herself but she quickly got over that. I am glad. Rebekah's shyness in performance situations is one of the reasons we decided to go ahead and put her in ballet this year. I hope it will work as well and getting the dog has for her. :-)
All in all we had a full and eventful day.
Tomorrow we will take it a bit easier and just tackle the 3 R's. We are done with our readings for the week. We may try to squeeze in a free reading of Cinderella from the Blue Fairy Book if we get the mountain of clothes in the office folded and put away.
I will try to take pictures of our activities in the future so that I can post pictures along with my blogs.

School Days, School Days

John left 4 1/2 weeks ago for Ft Benning for some Army Training. He will be gone for almost 6 months all together. We have really missed him but since he has been gone we have been very busy.We started back to school 4 Mondays ago. We have really been enjoying it this year!!! We are using a Charlotte Mason based approach to education and are loving it. We have fun reading, reading, and reading. The kids have really enjoyed reading about various birds in the Burgess Bird Book, and about fairy tales in the Blue Fairy Book. They have learned some great classic information which will help them in the Great Conversation. They learned about the Brave 300 Spartans who held back the Persain invasion of Greece and about Alexander the Great and his horse. They have learned about the coming of the Romans to England and how the Brittans were so brave and feriece that Cesear left with much respect for them. We are learning about Geography through a great Caldecot book named Paddle to the Sea. So far they have learned about the Great Lakes and how the rivers flow from one to the other and thus on to the Ocean.Poetry is one of their favorites. They love to hear great poetry about children like themselves. Right now Beauty and the Beast stands out as the favorite story by far. At first, as I was reading it, Hannah tried to tell me that that was not how it went (she only knew the disney version), but soon she was very interested and wanted to know how it would end. She told her daddy all about it! For math we are learning with a great program called Math U See. The kids love playing with the blocks to learn place value and figure out problems. I am most excited about our new Spell to Write and Read program. So far the kids have learned all of the sounds of all of the letters and have them well memorized. They are currently working on the multiletter phonograms (or blends) and are doing very well memorizing them. We will start our first spelling list of 20 words on Monday. I dictated the word "apron" yesterday to Hannah and she spelled it correctly!!! The emphasis of this program is to learn all of the sounds of letters and multi letter phonograms first, spell second, and learn to write and read as a result of correct spelling. So far I see the benefit and am excited.On Wednesdays Hannah and Bekah are going to a co-op. They are taking Art, Math, and Spanish there. They spend an hour on each and come home at 12:30. Today was their first day and they had so much fun. We have some Spanish homework to work on for next week.Hannah and Bekah will be taking Ballet on Thursday afternoon. It is with a Christian fine arts company and has a basis in letting our talents be our worship. The kids are so excited about this! We went and got their ballet shoes on Monday and they have been wanting to wear them.Fridays are our fun day.We go on Nature Walks. We usually go to the Roper Mountain Science Center. While there we walk on the nature trails and look for new things to see (bugs, turtles, moss, fungus, etc...), and then head to the butterfly garden and pond. There is lots of great pond life and beautiful flowers to study.This past friday we went to the Childrens Garden in Downtown Greenville. The kids got to look at the river and see how the water flows. They saw ducks and we discussed how the water flows off of their backs. They identified flowers and smelled some of the more fragrant plants in the herb garden. It was a lot of fun for them. Afterwards we made a trip to the interactive fountain where they had fun playing and getting wet.