A Child's Right to a Healthy Environment (The Loyola University Symposium on the Human Rights of Children Book 1)

It’s a startling reality that more American children are victims—and perpetrators—of violence than those of any other developed country. Yet unlike the other nations, the United States has yet to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Compelling, readable, and interdisciplinary, __A Child’s Right to a Healthy Environment__ provides an abundance of skilled observation, important findings, and keen insights to place children’s well-being in the vanguard of human rights concerns, both in the United States and globally. Within this volume, authors examine the impediments to the crucial goals of justice, safety, dignity, well-being, and meaning in children’s lives, factors as varied as socioeconomic stressors, alienated, disengaged parents, and corrosive moral lessons from the media. The complex role of religious institutions in promoting and, in many cases, curtailing children’s rights is analyzed, as are international efforts by advocates and policymakers to address major threats to children’s development, including: * War and natural disasters. * Environmental toxins (e.g., malaria and lead poisoning). * The child obesity epidemic. * Gun violence. * Child slavery and trafficking. * Toxic elements in contemporary culture. __A Child’s Right to a Healthy Environment__ is a powerful call to action for researchers and professionals in developmental, clinical child, school, and educational psychology as well as psychiatry, pediatrics, social work, general and special education, sociology, and other fields tasked with improving children’s lives. It ́ s a startling reality that more American children are victims ́ and perpetrators ́ of violence than those of any other developed country. Yet unlike the other nations, the United States has yet to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Compelling, readable, and interdisciplinary, A Child ́ s Right to a Healthy Environment provides an abundance of skilled observation, important findings, and keen insights to place children ́ s well-being in the vanguard of human rights concerns, both in the United States and globally. Within this volume, authors examine the impediments to the crucial goals of justice, safety, dignity, well-being, and meaning in children ́ s lives, factors as varied as socioeconomic stressors, alienated, disengaged parents, and corrosive moral lessons from the media. The complex role of religious institutions in promoting and, in many cases, curtailing children ́ s rights is analyzed, as are international efforts by advocates and policymakers to address major threats to children ́ s development, including: War and natural disasters. Environmental toxins (e.g., malaria and lead poisoning). The child obesity epidemic. Gun violence. Child slavery and trafficking. Toxic elements in contemporary culture. A Child ́ s Right to a Healthy Environment is a powerful call to action for researchers and professionals in developmental, clinical child, school, and educational psychology as well as psychiatry, pediatrics, social work, general and special education, sociology, and other fields tasked with improving children ́ s lives Front Matter....Pages i-xii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 “To Such as These, the Kingdom of Heaven Belongs”: Religious Faith as a Foundation for Children’s Rights....Pages 3-30 Preventing Childhood Malaria: Strategies That Work Today and Directions for the Future....Pages 31-42 A Case Study of a Partnership in Chicago to Prevent Childhood Lead Poisoning....Pages 43-71 Front Matter....Pages 73-73 Spare the Rod: Why Are More American Children Victims and Perpetrators of Violence Than Those of Any Other Developed Country?....Pages 75-104 Promoting a Protective Environment for Children Affected by Disaster and War....Pages 105-121 When Rights and Needs Collide....Pages 123-135 Front Matter....Pages 137-137 The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: An Instrument for Creating a Healthy Environment for the Child....Pages 139-148 The Right to a Family Environment for Children of Prisoners....Pages 149-161 A Child’s Right to an Environment That Prevents Obesity: Ethical Considerations....Pages 163-181 Anchoring and Empowering Children: A Child’s Right to Participation Within a Healthy Environment....Pages 183-198 Front Matter....Pages 199-199 Child Slavery and the Global Economy: Historical Perspectives on a Contemporary Problem....Pages 201-222 In Harm’s Way in America: The Burden of Gun Violence....Pages 223-243 The Right to a Healthy Social Environment: Protecting Children from Social Toxicity....Pages 245-252 Back Matter....Pages 253-254 This powerfully expressed analysis examines the impediments to the goals of justice, safety, dignity, well-being and meaning in children's lives. These obstacles include factors as varied as disengaged parents and corrosive moral lessons from the media. James Garbarino, Garry Sigman, Editors. Conference Proceedings. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.