The Human Rights of Children
Children, in their overall dependency upon adults, have no way of representing themselves.
Children are not only minors, but they constitute, in fact, a social minority in our societies. Children and Youth Studies aims at representing children and their interests through synthesizing knowledge, research and insights gained from different disciplines and in this manner helping to give children a voice. The work of the Brooklyn College Children and Youth Studies Program and the Children's Studies Center for Research, Policy and Public Service addresses these issues and works on behalf of children and youth who can neither advocate for themselves nor have a voice. It is also for this reason that a human rights perspective — articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) with its enlarged understanding of children and its evolving international jurisprudence — provides the overarching framework for Children and Youth Studies.
United Nations Violence Against Children Initiatives
Our Children's Studies Center for Research, Policy and Public Service has followed the U.N. Secretary-General's global initiative on "Violence Against Children" ever since early 2006. Professor Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, the independent expert for the United Nations Secretary-General's Study on Violence Against Children, presented his World Report on Violence Against Children to the U.N. General Assembly for discussion on Oct. 11, 2006.