The Ageing of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

It is argued in this article that the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is no longer up to date. Compared with the new situation of children using the internet, cell phones, sending text messages, downloading videos, gaming and gambling on line, the CRC looks like an archaic document, the author found. Adolescents consume enormous amounts of alcohol and some have to be treated for addiction, but the term alcohol can't be found in the CRC. The CRC does not include the right to treatment for drug addiction. Article 33 (protection from illicit drugs) is much too weak for children and adolescents of the 21st Century, it is argued. Furthermore it was observed that globalisation and HIV/AIDS are not specifically addressed by the CRC. The author presents some proposals, one of them being a Review Conference of the States Parties to the CRC.