Unfortunately, the class of people that, statistically, children most need to be protected from is... their parents. Those who would strengthen dominion of parents over their children usually take the rhetorical tack of conflating the interests of parents and children. But the interests of parents and children are often enough at odds, and what parents would like to do with their children is not always in their children's best interests.
This is one reason I don't feel it entirely adequate for parents to represent their children's interests at the polls. Parents, as a class, are naturally given to arrogate to themselves rights over their children, to choose what they think should happen to their children rather than letting their children choose, even when those children are perfectly capable of making that choice. After all, it might be a choice the parent doesn't like, and with the power available, the temptation is always there to compel where one can't convince.
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Date: 2007-01-17 03:51 am (UTC)Unfortunately, the class of people that, statistically, children most need to be protected from is... their parents. Those who would strengthen dominion of parents over their children usually take the rhetorical tack of conflating the interests of parents and children. But the interests of parents and children are often enough at odds, and what parents would like to do with their children is not always in their children's best interests.
This is one reason I don't feel it entirely adequate for parents to represent their children's interests at the polls. Parents, as a class, are naturally given to arrogate to themselves rights over their children, to choose what they think should happen to their children rather than letting their children choose, even when those children are perfectly capable of making that choice. After all, it might be a choice the parent doesn't like, and with the power available, the temptation is always there to compel where one can't convince.