Opinion - Letters to the Editor

POSTED: Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009

U.S. should ratify treaty on children's rights

Friday, Nov. 20, marked the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), established to protect and promote the well-being of children throughout the world.

Shamefully, the United States is not a signatory to this landmark treaty, which became international law in 1990. We share that ignominious status with just one other country - Somalia.

The CRC helps guide policies that address children's needs while encouraging development of their own voice and skills. Inconceivably, this sensible and ethical direction has been obstructed by a tiny number of people who rail against the United Nations or advocate unbridled parental rights to determine and do what is in their children's best interests.

The time is long overdue for use to join the 193 countries that have recognized, through ratification, that healthy and vibrant child-hood is both a national and a global priority.

Children are our future, but they are also our present. Please urge the U.S. Senate to support ratification of the CRC, and to back up this public affirmation of children through giving priority to children and to programs of health and education.

James Loucky

Bellingham