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Hidden in plain sight : the tragedy of children's rights from Ben Franklin to Lionel Tate / Barbara Bennett Woodhouse.

by Woodhouse, Barbara Bennett, 1945-

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Princeton : Princeton University Press, c2008.

Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989 November 20)

Children's rights -- United States -- History.

Children -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- United States.

African American children -- Civil rights -- History.

9780691126906 (alk. paper)

0691126909 (alk. paper)

9780691146218 (pbk. : alk. paper)

0691146217 (pbk. : alk. paper)

Public square (Princeton, N.J.)

xvii, 357 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.

Foreword / Ruth O'Brien -- Introduction: Ain't I a person? -- 1: How to think about childhood -- 2: How to think about children's rights -- pt. 1: The Privacy Principle: Stories of Bondage And Belonging -- 3: Boys in slavery and servitude: Frederick Douglass -- 4: Girls at the intersection of age, race and gender: Dred Scott's daughters -- 5: Growing up in state custody: "Tony" and "John G." -- pt. 2: The Agency Principle: Stories Of Voice And Participation -- 6: The Printer's apprentice: Ben Franklin and youth speech -- 7: Youth in the civil rights movement: John Lewis and Sheyanne Webb -- pt. 3: The Equality Principle: Stories of Equal Opportunity -- 8: Old maids and little women: Louisa Alcott and William Cather -- 9: Breaking the prison of disability: Helen Keller and the children of "Greenhaven" -- pt. 4: Dignity Principle: Stories of Resistance and Resilience -- 10: Hide and survive: Anne Frank and "Liu" -- 11: Children at work: newsboys, entrepreneurs, and "Evelyn" -- pt. 5: The Protection Principle: Stories of Guilt and Innocence -- 12: Telling the scariest secrets: Maya Angelou and "Jeannie" -- 13: Age and the idea of innocence: "Amal" and Lionel Tate -- Conclusion: Future of rights.

From the Publisher: Hidden in Plain Sight tells the tragic untold story of children's rights in America. It asks why the United States today, alone among nations, rejects the most universally embraced human-rights document in history, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This book is a call to arms for America to again be a leader in human rights, and to join the rest of the civilized world in recognizing that the thirst for justice is not for adults alone. Barbara Bennett Woodhouse explores the meaning of children's rights throughout American history, interweaving the childhood stories of iconic figures such as Benjamin Franklin with those of children less known but no less courageous, like the heroic youngsters who marched for civil rights. How did America become a place where twelve-year-old Lionel Tate could be sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 1999 death of a young playmate? In answering questions like this, Woodhouse challenges those who misguidedly believe that America's children already have more rights than they need, or that children's rights pose a threat to parental autonomy or family values. She reveals why fundamental human rights and principles of dignity, equality, privacy, protection, and voice are essential to a child's journey into adulthood, and why understanding rights for children leads to a better understanding of human rights for all. Compassionate, wise, and deeply moving, Hidden in Plain Sight will force an examination of our national resistance--and moral responsibility--to recognize children's rights.

American Political Science Association, Human Rights Section, Best Book Award, 2009.

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