Child Welfare - Globally Children

Globally children should have the right to an adequate standard of living. As stated in the Children's Bill of Rights every child has the right to a standard of living adequate for his or her physical, mental, spiritual, moral, and social development, no matter how wealthy his or her parents are. I believe that Article 14 in the Children's Bill of Rights is the foundation and the central building block in ensuring the overall wellbeing of children worldwide. An adequate standard of living is the foundation for children to develop successfully and become prosperous members of any society. In order to better understand Article 14 a thorough look at each component will be necessary. The physical, mental, spiritual, moral, and social development as well as the overall well being of children will be evaluated.

Abraham Maslow presented a hierarchy of needs that fits well with Article 14 of the Children's Bill of Rights. All children should be entitled to the basic physiological needs that are necessary to lead a healthy life, including basic safety and security needs. Encompassed in the list of physiological needs that must be met are the proper nutrition, activity, rest, and the right to avoid unwarranted physical pain. The background of this very necessary need has stemmed from the fact that so many children's physical needs are not being met domestically and abroad. There is a plethora of research literature that indicates the physical needs of children are in large part not being met. Even industrialized nations such as the United States fail miserably in meeting the physical needs of children.

The obvious intent of a societal obligation to meet the physiological needs of children is to ensure that children are taken care of. Unfortunately, there is very little in the way of sanction insofar as people not meeting the physical needs of children. This is not to say that there are not great programs in place to meet children's physical needs. Programs such as WIC, Head Start, and TANF are programs that can be directly linked to the physical safety of children. While these programs are not perfect they are certainly a step in the right direction. Society as a whole needs to be responsible for the physical wellbeing of our children. Coupled with our individual efforts a governmental backing is absolutely necessary. Most people that are provided with the proper resources will choose to care for their children in a manner that is adequate to suit a child's physical needs; however it is widely known that there is a drastic shortage of funds allocated to the physical well being of children domestically and abroad.

Following the physiological and overall safety needs of children Maslow illustrates the need for belonging as a crucial piece of the overall wellbeing of humanity which clearly includes children. According to Article 14 all children have the express right to mental, spiritual,