This book rigorously investigates the contemporary state of children's rights and the multifaceted challenges facing children, uncovering the complexities at their core. In 1989, the United Nations introduced the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), ratified by 196 nations, promising a world where children's rights would reign supreme. In practice, however, realising these rights proves intricate and often precarious. Policies may shine on paper, but their implementation grapples with the challenges posed by global governance structures, national strategies, and local factors. Over three decades since the CRC's inception, this book scrutinises the true efficacy of international commitments, shedding light on underexplored issues and revealing shortcomings in both discourse and actions. With diverse, interdisciplinary perspectives, it recognises the profound influence of global and transnational forces in generating outcomes that impact children's rights and welfare.

Introduction: Rethinking the crisis of children's rights: multidisciplinary and transnational perspectives- Salvador Santino F. Regilme

Part I: Promoting children's rights through education and policy
1. Paddling the pupils: The legality (or not) of corporal punishment in schools - Lucy Sorensen, Charmaine Willis, Victor Asal, Melissa Breger
2. False divisions and dubious equivalencies: children's rights during the COVID-19 pandemic - Pantea Javidan
3. Con mis hijos no te metas: The fight for children's access to comprehensive sexual education - Paola Fajardo-Heyward
4. Children's Rights Convention and the United States amid the pandemic - Shani King
Part II: Children's rights in armed conflict and vulnerable contexts
5. "Chaos and cruelty:" Family separations and the rights of immigrant children - Amy Risley
6. Children's rights in Somalia: dignity under siege in armed conflict - Salvador Santino F. Regilme Jr. and Elisabetta Spoldi
7. Protecting a child's right to education free from attack: The future of accountability- Allyson Bachta
Part III: Sociocultural perspectives on children's rights
8. When do 'children' become 'adults'?: Transitions in children's rights and child marriage - Mies Grijns and Hoko Horii
9. Child trafficking and the complexity of implementing the CRC in West Africa - Daniel Ogunniyi

Conclusions: Advancing children's rights amid a global order under siege - Salvador Santino F. Regilme Jr.

Editor

Salvador Santino F. Regilme Jr. is tenured Associate Professor of International Relations at the History and International Studies Section, Institute for History at Leiden University.