(no subject)

[nerdflighter]

Eliminating parental rights to coercively impose their values on children while allowing parents the opportunity to express their values through persuasion and by setting examples that their children will want to emulate would enable parent–child relationships based on greater respect for each parties’ equal dignity. A majority of European countries have either prohibited corporal “punishment” of children by parents, or committed to eliminate it, as have some Latin American countries, and Sweden has had a ban on corporal “punishment” of children by parents for over thirty years.

 

Just as marriage survived the introduction of domestic violence laws (over the objection of patriarchal fears for the preservation of marriage), there is no reason to equate greatly curtailing parental power with ending the family. The elements of parent-child relationships founded on mutual consent that provide care, enjoyment, support, and love would remain intact. Requiring parents to negotiate with and persuade their children rather than commanding obedience backed by an implied or express threat of state sanctioned violence is likely to encourage mutual understanding and appreciation. Children and parents may have closer relationships in a legal regime that respects children as persons, not property or extensions of their parents’ interests. 

 

Samantha Godwin, Against Parental Rights (2015)

Comments

[hellofriendsiminthedark]

Have you seen this entry by queermermaids on anarchist parenting and Taking Children Seriously? It has a lot of really good similar discussions about the personhood of children and the tendency of parents and institutions to deny it to them.

<3

[nerdflighter]

I haven't, thanks for linking me to it!
~
Wow, thanks for linking me to that! It was such a good and necessary read, and I like that they dropped a rec to Summerhill, which was the book which introduced me to democratic child centric models of learning.
One of my biggest quibbles with The Dispossessed (which is my favourite anarchist novel, go figure) is the fact that for all their anarchy, no one on either planet ever manages to take children seriously. Shevek is constantly talked down to as a child and also as a young man, and while the narrative never lingers long there, it makes me sad. What freedom can you have when you're still talking to kids like they're idiots?
I'm going to be thinking about TCS for a long time to come, thank you