Persuasion
What will become of GEN Z?
People all over the country are noticing this new age of youngsters who are just a little different then the rest of them. A new age of narcissistic, brutally honest, thinned skinned, big dreaming, over confidant, emotionally immature people are coming into the real world. Equipped with their overflow of trophies that they get just for showing up, or the thousand dollar princess birthday parties, they feel like this is something they deserve. So why don’t you get how it’s hard for them to see why this abundance of ego enhancers is making them the way they are? People blame it all on them, but I disagree. It is a result of many things; where they grow up, how the parent raises them, the financial status of the family, the schools, and the government all encourages these characteristics.
The simplest thing as, the Internet is providing a means for people to feel important. Facebook, one of the most popular social networking sites has created a place where anyone can share his or her whole life story to anyone who wants to listen. People unhesitatingly share all the details of their relationships, favorite music, and who their top friends are with strangers. Getting notifications when a friend sends you a useless personality test or compares you to someone else only based on superficial traits can only do one thing. Not only is this becoming more apparent in the work force and the everyday life but also has been drastically noticed by teachers. According to author Jean Twenge in her book Generation ME “Students disregarding curfews, playing dance music until 3 a.m., demanding new room assignments at a moment’s notice and failing to understand why professors won’t let them make up an exam they were too hung over to take—to the disastrous—failed marriages, abusive working environments and billion-dollar Ponzi schemes. Seems that the flip side of all that confidence isn’t prodigious success but antisocial behavior.” This only goes to show how entitled the generation feels.
If the young generation is consumed by self-love and entitlement what are we going to do to stop this epidemic from engorging the rest of our youth? Certainly not by passing the UNCRC. The UNCRC states that it is looking out for the rights of the child and protects their basic rights. The convention claims to only be looking out for the best for the children but I feel it will only bring them deeper into a narcissistic stage. The UNCRC creates the opportunity for children to take their parents to court over any decisions the child deems as “unfair”. An actual case of this treaty has taken place in Washington for example, “A thirteen-year-old boy in Washington State was removed from his parents after he complained to school counselors that his parents took him to church too often. His school counselors had encouraged him to call Child Protective Services with his complaint, which led to his subsequent removal and placement in foster care. It was only after the parents agreed to a judge’s requirement of less-frequent church attendance that they were able to recover their son.” How did this protect the child? All it did was make the child feel even more in control of his parents, he was able with the help of the court to tell his parents who to raise him. This convention has a lot of great content that is based on helping the wellbeing of the child. In other countries they lack the laws to protect their children from harm. The U.S already has many laws against the exploitation of children, children in the work force, child abuse, schooling, transporting and selling of obscene matter, and health vaccines. Therefore we do not need to adopt this new treaty, we already have U.S constitutional laws to protect our children. We do not need other countries telling us how to protect the rights of the U.S children.
This convention is going to replace the role as a parent. The parent can no longer have the responsibility of teaching their children their own personal morals, views and opinions. The government will regulate what you can do which will change the relationship of teaching your children to giving wisdom and allowing your growing child to make the decisions for their own life. This role as a parent is very crucial to the upbringing of a child. Dr. Jack Shonkoff, a board-certified pediatrician who sits on the faculty of the Harvard Graduate School of Education “Even when young children spend most of their waking hours in child care, parents remain the most influential adults in their lives,” “The hallmark of [the parental] relationship is the readily observable fact that this special adult is not interchangeable with others,” he continues. “A child may not care who cuts his hair or takes his money at the toy store, but he cares a great deal about who is holding her when she is unsure, comforts her when she is hurt, and shares special moments in her life.” This relationship cannot be replaced with the ruling of a judge to impede his or her own personal beliefs on the child. If a child didn’t like being punished for experimenting with drugs he or she could take their parents to court and the judge would rule what punishment is “fair.” What if this judge is a drug user, they could have a more relaxed view of parenting and rule that their should be no punishment. Do we want our children to grow up undermining the role of their parents?
The role as a parent is a life-changing experience. The parent no longer lives for themselves they live for the child as well. The parents are the ones that sacrifice a lot to be a parent and in some occasions they have to change their whole life. They choose to have a child, they choose to take upon this responsibility, and so they have the right to raise their child. As a parent you can choose how you want to raise your children, you get to teach them about what type of life they should lead. You can educate them about religion, homosexuality, abstinence, drugs, health, morals, life lesions, and you place family value on a lifestyle that they should withhold. These are just simple choices and responsibilities that as a parent you can enforce. But not for long, if this CRC treaty becomes mandated the parents will no longer have these rights. The children will be able to appeal any disciplinary actions that their parents make that the kid does not like. What kid likes any punishment, and who says that the child know what’s right for them? If children knew what was right for them then there would be no role for teachers, parents, and advisors. Obviously we know do not have enough life experience to know what is right for them. When you teach your children about making choices and how to deal with the choices they make you are setting them up for the life beyond childhood. Children learn discipline, responsibility, and when they make the wrong choice they learn disappointment. Disappointment is a very important thing to experience; if they can learn it with a loving and caring environment around them then they can grow from it and know how to make the right decision next time. Punishment is a way to have children learn disappointment and be able to grown from it. If children are no long being able to be punished by their parents they will never learn about disappointment or be able to take responsibility for making the wrong decision.
Parents should be aware of what this UNCRC treaty will do to the way they can raise their children. Not only will it over ride all of your rights to be able to decide what’s right for your own child but the government will be telling you how you are allowed to raise them. The treaty it essence is looking out for the best of the child. It is based on the fact that they want to stop all abuse of children, wither it be physical or emotional. They want to protect that children are human to and they have the right to speak up and protect themselves. When people hear about this treaty they think that is a great addition to the U.S but they don’t get to see the bad about how it will affect all of us. The fact that it’s called the Convention Rights of Children and is supported by UNICEFF people already think that it is something that needs to be change. But with the CRC they are being fooled with the hububaloo about protecting our children.
The alarming fact is that Senator Barbara Boxer, this past December, announced that the Senate would ratify the UNCRC within two years. President Obama announced that by ratifying this treaty we would once again “resume our global leadership in human rights.” Then followed that with promising that “Failure of the U.S to ratify the treaty is an embarrassment and he promises his administration will review it.” Secretary of state Hilary Clinton is a strong supporter of the UNCRC treaty. Does this not remind you a little of the Hitler or Stalin movement telling people how they had to act, and encouraging kids to rat to the government about their parents actions. Not to say that not all parents out there do what’s right for their kids, but that is why we have our own U.S law protecting them. We do not need the UN to tell us how to protect out children. IF we conform to how the other countries wants us to act and adapt this treaty how will that effect the next generation, generation Z. If the current generation Y are the egotistical entitled kids, how do you think this treaty will encourage them to live, when it gives kids the power to overrule their parents? We need to amend the Parental rights amendment which will: Protect the liberty of parents to choose the upbringing and education of their children, the U.S nor any state will infringe upon that right unless there is a infliction of other child right laws, and that no treaty can be adopted nor shall any international law be employed to modify the rights guaranteed by this article. This is the only solution to protect our youth and give them the opportunity to lead a positive lifestyle.
