Throughout the Gospels, Jesus explicitly and continuously advocated children‟s rights. His actions and decisions towards the poor and least significant people in society, including children, were driven by unconditional love, sympathy and compassion (Christopher &
Christopher 2002:110). Jesus‟ unambiguous actions towards children were a “preferential option for children” (Gutierrez 1977, cf. Holness 2008) or primacy of children in Jesus (Lindner 2006:25). He was aware that children were side-lined and oppressed, and no one was there to speak for them. They were considered as people without rights, and “...he took a child, and put him in the midst of them; and taking him in his arms, he said to them, whoever receives one such child in my name receives me and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me” (Mk 9:36-37). Putting a child right in the midst of his disciples was a move to show the significance of childhood, as it is a stage no human has missed. The significance of this stage is that God in Jesus passed through it, and as such Jesus commands his disciples to let the children come to him “for to such belongs the Kingdom of God” (Mk 10:14). As a result, Jesus in the Gospels advocated and protected children‟s rights, such as the survival, protection, development and participation.
Governments who neither subscribe to this nor oppose it are compelled to protect and promote the survival, development and wellbeing of all children within their borders.
6.7.1 Jesus and children’s right to survival
The right to survival means that children have a right to life. When Jesus in John 10:10 said I have come so that ALL may have life and have it abundantly, he included children.
The right to life means the right to survival, for a child to survive in this world he or she is entitled to a name, a family to nurture, adoption if s/he has no family or the family cannot be traced, shelter, security and warmth. The survival of children in an African context means that children exist in a community of caring where life is protected and sustained.
Jesus in his ministry campaigned for life and survival by healing the sick, feeding the hungry, taking the side of the poor and the weak and restoring to life the dead. A child provided fish and bread to feed the five thousand of Jesus‟ followers, meaning that a
“child...was willing to share his resources in times of need with the needy” (Christopher &
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Christopher 2002:110; cf. Mk 6:30ff), so Jesus used a child as a means to demonstrate the right to survival of those who believed in him. This action by Jesus supports the CRC and ARWC treaties in that children are not dependent beings who are insignificant in society, rather Jesus advocates that children can and are able to provide towards the sustenance of life.
The Gospels reveal the significance of the right of children to survival as Jesus healed and restored to life a dead child. Jairus‟ daughter, who had just died, was restored to life by Jesus (Mk 5:35-42ff), which reveals that children have a right to survival and full life as much as other human beings, and they ought to enjoy a full and healthy life. He healed a boy with an unclean spirit (Mk 9:14-27), and according to the CRC article 27, the right to survival for every child includes his or her physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development (CRC Art 27). By performing these miracles Jesus was campaigning for children‟s right to survival, where any threat to a child‟s life should be addressed and removed. By extension, the right to survival means that children should enjoy compulsory primary school education, which is also addressed by the UN‟s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For them to be able to access compulsory primary school education, children should have a name and nationality that is the core of human existence and survival. As Sturm (1998:60) argues “that immediate setting of a child‟s life is intimately associated with the child‟s identity. It is a resource for the child‟s survival, but more importantly, for the child‟s language and culture, expectations and aspirations”.
6.7.2 Jesus and children’s right to protection
The former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, argued that “there is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they can grow up in peace.”68 The right to protection principle advocates the security of children from their vulnerability to different threats of life because of littleness. As a result, children need to be protected from hunger, famine, war, slavery, rape, HIV and AIDS, crisis and different forms of threats to children‟s ontological
68 United Nations General Secretary, Mr Kofi Annan, Children's Rights Quotes, http://www.betterworld.net/quotes/children-quotes-3.htm accessed on 14 of June 2012.
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security, dignity and identity. Jensen argues that children‟s vulnerability represents an aspect of the imago dei (image of God) (Jensen 2005:xvi). In light of this, the protection principle is significant in that it is not only the human element of childhood that is protected but also the image of God that is within children. Hence, Jesus was angry at his disciples when they chased children who were brought to him to be touched and blessed by him, saying: “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the Kingdom of God, truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Mk 10:13-15). By this Jesus was protecting children and the image of God from all forms of discrimination. The disciples were discriminating children from having a right to be blessed by Jesus as other human beings.
The CRC, Article 37, states that children have a right to freedom from all forms of exploitation, such as freedom from discrimination, abuse, inhuman treatment or cruelty. In connection with this, Articles 32 and 34 states that children have a right to freedom from all forms of exploitation, such as sexual and economic, and the lack of these freedoms is the lack of love, guidance, justice and peace. Jesus, in his campaign for children‟s protection, was firm against any form of children‟s exploitation, warning that “whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he [or she] were thrown into the sea” (Mk 9:42).
This punishment is parallel to a death sentence of the pre-modern, modern and post-modern times which has caused much controversy in the human rights sector. Some countries still practice capital punishment; however, others have abolished it. Most notable crimes that result in a death penalty range from child rape, murder and drug trafficking. 69 The right to protection means that children need to be protected against anything that threatens their survival and development, anything that threatens their dignity, identity and ontological security, such as rape, sexual and economic exploitation. When Jesus healed a boy possessed by an unclean spirit (Mk 9:14-27), he was protecting him from discrimination by humanity, and from abduction or kidnapping by the unclean spirit.
Protecting a child is motivated by the greatest commandment of love as given by Jesus (Matt 22:36-40). “Jesus was firm on his counsels about the significance of children”
69http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment accessed on 24 September 2012.
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(Ngwenya 2009:62) and showed this through actions as he engaged the theory that he taught to the practice that he performed “love your neighbour as you love yourself” (Mat 22:39). By advocating their protection and survival Jesus was acknowledging that children are weak and small, reliant on adults to speak for them to effect change in their miserable lives (Pais1991:8,17), so that their dignity, identity and ontological security shall be protected. By feeding the five thousand Jesus could have thought and considered children within the crowd, hence he protected them by performing this miracle. Similarly, breastfeeding infants rely on their mother‟s breast milk for survival and toddlers and adolescents rely on their parents for food. Without food and shops, Jesus knew that the protection of children was in his hands.
6.7.3 Jesus and children’s right to development
The principle of the right to development means that every child is entitled to development, therefore proper nurturing is essential for all children. Children should be allowed to live through their complete stages of childhood rather than jumping the childhood stage to an adulthood stage that has a role of being a provider. Children are entitled to primary school education, religious education, cultural education and training, psychological development, and physical development. The proper development enables their “spirituality to take shape in the concrete activities of the day-to-day and the varied contexts where children and adults live together” (Miller-McLemore 2011:32). The gospel according to Matthew argues that “Jesus said, „do not put a stumbling block‟ in the way of the least, which must surely include the children, since Jesus allowed the children to develop as citizens of his Father‟s Kingdom” (Christopher & Christopher 2002:120), with
„stumbling block‟ referring to something that prevents children from securing a future, such as barriers to education or social security.
When Jesus put a child in the midst of his disciples he was protecting its right to development, because he knew that it was socially constructed as an insignificant human being. Some adults during Jesus‟ ministry could have used children as a means to their selfish ends, therefore, by putting a child in the midst of his disciples and arguing that
“unless you become as a child you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matt 18:1-5) Jesus was campaigning for a social re-construction in a way that protects the child
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throughout his or her development. If a child is favoured by the Kingdom of God, exploiting him or her means exploiting the Kingdom of God. The right to development was important for Jesus as he commanded that “see that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt 18:10). Despising may hinder a child‟s development as people or adults may be ignorant about their needs and future. By this, Jesus was introducing consent of protecting children, and he instructed his disciples to welcome children in his name and value their contribution to worship in the church. Above all, Jesus was campaigning for children to be protected from being hindered by their own culture and religion from development. Rather, culture and religion is supposed to be used to guide children in how to become responsible adults. When he said „unless you become like children you will not be able to see the Kingdom of God‟, becoming like children is being prepared to learn, listen and depend on God for development and survival.
Miller-McLemore, on the other hand, has warned researchers, pastors, lay minister and the social community as a whole against using hyperbole about Jesus. She argues that it can lead to Christian triumphalism, therefore Jesus‟s responses and actions towards children must be done responsibly (Miller-McLemore 2010:35). Her argument is that other religions have something to contribute to the protection of children as much as Christianity does:
One of the problems with the Jesus monopoly on love of children is that Christians forget that we have much to learn from other religious communities that honour children. A more realistic or honest view of Jesus allows for a more honest view of Christianity, a more respectful view of Jesus‟ Jewish heritage, and a more generous attitude toward ourselves in our own ambivalence about children and the Christian life. The question of how to use scripture well for theological ends deserves more attention (Miller-McLemore 2010:36).
On the other hand, this argument undermines the significance of Jesus‟s campaign towards the protection of children. Hyperbole or not, Jesus‟s actions towards the protection must be contextualised to protect children today. It should not be the subject of religious rivalry, but rather all religions must borrow from each other and work in unity towards the achievement of the protection of children. Not only the gospels advocate the rights of children, with the Old Testament in Proverbs 22:6 citing God commanding human creation
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to “train up a child in the way he [or she] should go; even when he [or she] is old will not depart from it”. This is guiding a child through achieving their right to development.
Acknowledging that in order for children to be guided towards their development discipline is important, God in Proverbs (13:24) argues that “whoever spares the rod hates his [or her] son [or daughter], but he [or she] who loves him [or her] is diligent to discipline him [or her].” All human beings are entitled to discipline one way or the other, so does a child. As children are small and weak, they are vulnerable to negative peer pressure which an adult would have to correct. However, in disciplining a child the person doing so needs to respect its human dignity and identity.
6.7.4 Jesus and children’s right to participation
The right to participation means that children are entitled to participate in family decisions, and in decisions made about them. The right to participation also gives children entitlement to participate in religious and spiritual exercises that contribute towards their nurturing. They are also entitled to the right to enter the Kingdom of God and Christian fellowship. They are entitled to share responsibilities of their nurturing with parents. When Jesus told the disciples that the Kingdom of God belongs to children (Mat 19:14) he was approving of the significance of children in participating in representation of the Kingdom of God on earth. However, this must not be mistaken for connecting children‟s responsibilities with adult responsibilities of being providers, production and reproduction workers or breadwinners to the family. Children are too young to take up these roles, therefore Miller-McLemore (2011:33) writes that children should be “...freed of their embeddedness in the family. They are not merely a subset of families or schools but have active roles in and are affected by a variety of other social contexts.”
When Jesus advocated children‟s participation as the representatives of the Kingdom of God he unveiled the significance of children in the world. Jesus pronounced children as participants and representatives of God‟s message into the world. Article 13 in the CRC describes children‟s right to participation by stating that states should respect the child‟s views, freedom of thought and expression such as “a right to be heard in matters affecting their welfare” (CRC, Art 13) and a right of access to appropriate information, conscience and religion (CRC, Art 14). Children may not be aware of this right because it may be
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withheld by adults, but as the representative of the Kingdom of God they ought to be reminded of it. They should be listened to as they speak, and their views must be respected, particularly on issues that involve them.
6.8 CHILDREN’S RIGHTS AND PASTORAL CARE WITH CHILDREN IN