Series: Children’s Issues, Laws and Programs
BISAC: SOC047000

Child Protection in an Interconnected World is a realistic dissection of the current status of children’s rights at multiple levels of government and private society. Each chapter focuses on one aspect of children’s rights (i.e. poverty, statelessness, sexual abuse, nutrition, education, armed conflict, etc.). A dynamic mix of commonsensical reasoning, formal legal inquiry, and practical yet professional language enables readers from stratified segments of the population to engage seamlessly with the material.

Rejecting the ivory tower view that real world progress can be sustained through continuance of the same regulatory and political measures that broke ground in the latter 20th century, the author delves deeper into more pragmatic elements of children’s rights – why they are not universal and what prevents their achievement. Detailed scrutiny of data, law, and contemporary social attitudes move the text from one paradoxical situation to the next perpetual limitation in the quest for eradication of abuse and deprivation of fundamental human rights. However, hope is not lost in the midst of these empirical findings. Instead, thorough contemplation of the failures and shortcomings of child protective systems resurrects a spirit of compassion, and a more personal challenge emerges for readers, who are urged to undertake small-scale actions. We live in a time of unparalleled communications, where virtually anybody with a mobile phone can access information about people around the globe from any place.

The critical mass in the movement for human rights – which start in childhood years – has long been established. The word has spread across the land through varied forms of media. Children’s rights today are not threatened by ignorance inasmuch as they are by disinterest, disengagement, and outright opposition to those rights in practice. In order to breathe new life into the discussion, fresh and resourceful ways of thinking about the subject are needed. For rights to grow and evolve through the 21st century, stakeholders cannot afford to alienate potential allies with the same bullish rhetoric that led to the disillusionment of millions of supporters. Today’s participants are tech-savvy, independent, and not overly optimistic about accomplishing goals in the shortest of terms. Child Protection in an Interconnected World is written for those who understand that failure has occurred time and again, and that only through acceptance of the factual essence of our condition may we find a suitable path toward continued growth and achievement as individuals and collectives. The book advocates the idea that changes and improvements can and will happen, but they will be incremental, transgenerational, and built upon mutual cooperation from the bottom up.

(Imprint: Nova)