#childism

[aloeverawrites]

We need to change how we treat people who require care as a society. There’s this “I know better then you and I’m going to force what I think is best onto this situation” attitude coming from people in a place of authority towards the people they’re supposed to care about.

There’s this paternalistic attitude towards the people they have power over, thinking like they don’t know what they want for their own lives. Like they’re just emotional and a bit stupid and their opinions on their own care is an inconvenience to those who know what they’re really doing.

I’m mostly taking about people who are meant to help disabled people like therapists, doctors and insurance providers but I’m also thinking about people meant to help children like teachers, parents etc.

Even the term “paternalistic” has this inherent sense of dehumanisation and control and it comes from a term for parent. “relating to or characterized by the restriction of the freedom and responsibilities of subordinates or dependants in their supposed interest”.

We need to have equal respect for people who are going to be primarily affected by the industries to help them as we have for the people working in these industries. So many things, forced treatment and traumatic psychiatric incarceration, Aba therapy and trauma from schools, stems from this paternalistic view and if we can address that we make so much progress on all of these issues.

[elhopper1sm]

Unpopular opinion but the reason being a teenager sucks is less to do with hormones and social cliques and more to do with the fact adults fucking hate teenagers. The fact that adults expect teenagers to be able to take on adult responsibilities yet don't deserve rights of an adult. They don't see teenagers as human beings and they aren't prepared to see kids with their own formed identities and humanity. Teenagers are so sexualized and seen as needing to take on more and more adult responsibilities. Yet when they want rights and humanity they are denied. The years your brain spends wanting nothing more than to form an identity are being taken away from you. Teenagers are essentially being kicked out of social spaces unless they have an extra 40 dollars lying around anytime they want to go out. Teenagers being kicked out of the mall just for existing or groomed into the school to prison pipeline. And now creating legislation to keep them off the Internet. Our society hates teenagers. And does everything we can to hurt them. The fact that anyone makes it out of their teenage years without trauma is a fucking miracle frankly.

[greylittlebird]

I’m sick of everytime people talk about kids bullying other kids, they make it about “educating” and “awareness” not adults changing THEIR behavior. Kids do as you do more than as you say, and we’ve normalized bullying as a valid form of parenting calling it “tough love” and “discipline” when all it really is is a bigger, stronger person using threats, intimidation, humiliation, and even physical violence against someone smaller and weaker. All that does is teach kids this is the way to behave, this is the way to regulate your emotions and get what you want is find someone you can abuse just like your parents do.

Adults are so oblivious to their own behavior having consequences that some parents will post themselves humiliating, degrading, even in some cases using POW torture methods on their child for being a bully at school, and they’ll be congratulated by other adults in the comments with no recognition that this is exactly why that child is being a bully at school. This is who they learned it from and all that child learned now is to hide it better if they want to stay the bully and not the bullied. The parent will be hailed as a hero “preventing suicide” when in actuality they’re raising their own child’s risk of suicide. It’s so backwards.

[apricotmayonaise]

"the fact that i'm at risk of seeing a 14 year old's opinion at any time of day is a human rights violation!"

i don't know man, i think the real human rights violation is the fact that teenagers are taxed from their jobs yet unable to vote (taxation without representation), the fact that we're allowed to be assaulted under the guise of 'discipline', the fact that we get paid less than adults at the same job for the same amount of hours, we're allowed to have our bathroom access limited at school, not allowed to leave So Many Situations, have faced mistreatment and oppression historically for hundreds of years, the literal existence of troubled teen camps, etc etc etc i could go on

but yeah ok sure the high schooler who disagrees with you about ship discourse is the oppressor

[theonehitwonder]

okay, you know what? Running away shouldn’t be a crime. It shouldn’t be dangerous, either. Any kid should be able to leave their parents if they want, for any reason. No I’m not kidding.

“But Rue, where will these kids stay? Do you want them on the streets?”

of course not. In an ideal world, a kids would have multiple adults other than their parents they could look to for care, but I recognize that that will never be a reality for every single child. So: youth shelters, if they have nowhere else to go. There should be clean, warm shelters where anyone under 18 can stay for as long as they need, no questions asked. (And of course shelters that aren’t just for kids, but we’re talking about youth rights right now)

“But Rue,” I hear you say, “what if some moody teenager runs away after an argument?”

First of all, I’d rather a thousand moody teenagers run away than one abused child be trapped. Second, so what if one does? A kid needs time away from their parents, so they leave. The vast majority of them will get some time to cool down and then go back home, and if they don’t want to go back, period? Then nine times out of ten, they have a good reason. (Because yes, as hard as it is for you to believe, kids are humans who have common sense.)

“Okay, but what about the one time out of ten the kid doesn’t have a good reason?”

Then the kid doesn’t have a good reason. It doesn’t change anything. If someone wants to break up with their partner because of something stupid, you wouldn’t say they legally shouldn’t be able to. (And if you would, then you’re just a bad person.) No one should have to be in a relationship, romantic or otherwise, that they don’t want to be in.

[bibliodiscotheque]

I hope leftists realize that all the anti-education and especially anti-trans legislation in the States right now is not just anti-education and anti-trans but explicitly targeting minors’ rights and explicitly intended to reinforce the conservative Christian notion that a minor is the property of their parents and that parents have absolute control of their childs’ lives that the government cannot be allowed to interfere with. 

This is why the US is the sole UN member that has not ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child - the most widely-ratified UN convention - because conservatives believe it interferes with a parents’ authority.

“...organizations opposed to the CRC object particularly to the following articles: Article 13, freedom of expression; Article 14, freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; Article 15, freedom of association and peaceful assembly; Article 16, right to privacy; Article 17, access to information...”

(From ISLA Journal of Int’l and Comparative Law, “Who’s Afraid of the CRC?”)

All of the rights listed here are being attacked right now, particularly for trans minors. It’s not just that they hate trans people (they do), it’s that they do not believe that a minor has a fundamental right to autonomy, expression, identity, or access to information that a parent does not allow. It is absolutely not possible to fight for trans rights without fighting for minors’ rights. 

(Edit: 

(From The Hill))

(From a different The Hill article - it’s incredible that he blatantly admitted that the purpose of calling it the Anti-Groomer Bill is so that anyone against the bill can be accused of being a groomer. He didn’t even attempt to hide the intention.)

[arsenic-clownip]

ilove you, young people. ilove you if youre 10, if youre 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 14, any age under 18. youdo not have to apologise for your age. youdo not have to apologise for simply existing. you deserve the rights anyone over 18 has, and im sorry youdont have that freedom. im sorry for all children who suffer from their lack of rights. young people, dont apologise for your actions. youhave the right to be "weird". the right to be "abnormal". the right to go through "phases". youhave the right to speak up against child abuse. against hitting, against spanking, against adults touching you without your consent, against the hatred for young people, against the disbelief of young people, against all forms of discrimination youve suffered from. youhave the right to exist. nobody has the right to bully you for your age, so youshouldnt beat yourself up for your age. young people, please know im listening to your struggles. no matter how young, your struggles arent "unimportant". please know you are loved, young people. you matter.

[sticky943]

A lot of intenret content on child abuse/childrens rights violations i see is (rightly) focused mainly upon parents and teachers. But i wish there were more discussions about other adults with authority over children -- pediatricians, doctors, therapists, psychiatrists.

As someone who has personally survived them, i can guarantee that pediatricians/therapists can be abusive shits who enable or do nothing about the parents. The abusive parents may manipulate them to take their side and dismiss the child, telling the child its their fault, they need to obey the rules until they're 18, or theyre "rude/disrespectful/badly behaved/ungrateful/oversensitive." Or they may medicate the child to shut their anxiety/depression up, but then do absolutely NOTHING to help remove the child from their abusive parents causing that in the first place.

[aronarchy]

[elhopper1sm]

Even if Minimum wage jobs were just for teenagers that wouldn't justify such low wages. Call me crazy but if a child can work like an adult and puts in the amount of effort and responsibility of an adult and is expected to work as intensely as an adult would. They should get paid like an adult actually. It's so weird how in this country children are expected to face the burdens of adulthood and be ok with having none of the rights of adulthood.

[greylittlebird]

Seriously, NextDoor is 50% ring camera footage of clearly just normal, unsuspicious people walking around and paranoid fox news-brainrotted Boomers acting like they’re in danger for their lives. Someone made a post about a 10 year old “stealing” a rock from her lawn. A rock of which there were hundreds. I used to collect rocks as a kid, now kids do something so innocent and normal and are watched on Big Brother cameras and labeled a criminal among the community. There’s countless videos of adults putting their hands on and harassing teenagers for literally just skateboarding or hanging out outside. I shouldn’t even have to mention the risk is 100x for Black and Hispanic kids, especially right now.

"kids these days don't loiter or act rebellious enough any more" kids just existing in public are more criminalized and surveilled than ever. almost every western country is running a panic about youth crime and how random teens standing awkwardly are a threat to civilization, and pushing for much more punitive laws. tons of states and powerful lobbies are pushing "parental right laws" that restrict the civil rights of minors even more. policing is first and foremost targeting youths, especially from low income and majority immigrant neighbourhoods. if a kid mildly steps out of line or says something awkward online or in a public space half a dozen people can whip up their phone and start mass harassment campaigns. and tech companies are now restricting access to the internet, the last way many teens can talk to each other freely and reach out to people outside family and school.

anyhow i think people really need to start giving kids at least a tiny bit more grace instead of making smug posts about how uncool they are compared to your youth days, you fucking twats

[ihhfhonao3]

Absolutely love watching the evolution of a “cringe content” YouTuber (as in, someone who does “commentary” on “cringe”) go from shitting on gen z to shitting on gen a.

All the comments are the same. Always. “As a part of this generation, I’m sorry for what we’ve done,” “as someone who is gen _, we do not claim them,” “as someone who is (age), I’m sorry for what we have done”

STOP. STOP IT RIGHT NOW. DON’T BE SORRY JUST BECAUSE OF YOUR AGE. DON’T LET PEOPLE CONVINCE YOU THAT YOU’RE WORTH LESS BECAUSE OF WHEN YOU WERE BORN. YOU’RE BEING INDOCTRINATED. AND IT WILL NOT END IF YOU PARTAKE IN IT.

Why does it never end. Why does nobody ever learn that your age is not always an indicator of who you are as a person. Why is it so normal to beat down on literal children. What did they ever do wrong

[moiramaria]

A World where children can with no worries set their boundaries,in front of parents who truly love them, a world where children would never have to be made uncomfortable either by being touched or shamed for their body, a world where could have friends over, a world where a child never needs to fear waking up, a world where a child can roam in a clean environment that they themselves help on maintaining, a world of peace, love and independence.

[theonehitwonder]

It fucking astounds me how many people completely understand “being treated like a child is horrible” but never reach the very logical conclusion of “we should not treat children like that”

[keysmashslushy]

Not paying attention in school is a logical and reasonable response to being trapped in a building for several hours a day where you have no control over your body, time, or environment without the say-so of teachers who will barely ever see consequences for mistreating you. When the only thing you have power over is your own thoughts, it is completely acceptable to decide what you think about.

[greylittlebird]

Childism is the core issue here that enables other bigotry. “Protect (ie control) the children” is such an effective gateway to restricting the rights of all members of a minority group (ex. trans folks) because even many otherwise liberal/leftist people do believe youth are incapable of understanding and identifying themselves. We’ve seen kids be abused and exploited so much that we almost see them as being in a perpetual state of victimization, it’s easy to believe if the kids are doing anything out of the norm it must be because they’ve been manipulated by an adult(s). Why is infantalization used so much to strip autonomy from adult marginalized people (women, people with disabilities, etc.)? Because the second we see a group as like children we think we should stop listening to anything they have to say and let others speak for them.

The right to self-identify, to say “this is who I am and this is how I want to be addressed and referred to” is one of the most basic human rights, and youth are capable of doing it. Even if they change their minds and identify differently later, that’s okay. I don’t want to see people who have been married 4 times and had 3 kids they resent belittling kids for trying different pronouns, the consequences are a lot less serious for the latter. (Yes, even if they medically transition, the transition youth do is almost entirely reversible and it’s not “experimental”, HRT and Puberty Blockers have been around longer than viagra or heart transplants).