This coming Friday marks the 20th anniversary of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child, the most comprehensive treaty on
children's rights. The convention has been ratified by nearly
every country in the world, except for the United States. The
convention would fill current gaps in U.S. laws, and provide all
children in America with the same robust protections that
children in 193 countries are already entitled to. The
Convention on the Rights of the Child, recognizing "the right of
the child to education," specifies that education "shall be
directed to…the development of the child's personality, talents
and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential."
The convention also requires "all appropriate measures to ensure
that school discipline is administered in a manner consistent
with the child's human dignity," and mandates the implementation
of the convention's guarantees "without discrimination of any
kind, irrespective of the child's…race, colour, sex, language,
religion, political or other