r/YouthRights

​I need to vent about the absolute state of subreddits, social media, and internet regulations right now. It has reached a level of total hysteria, and honestly, it’s fucking insane. There is no other word for it.

​Every single day we see parents and online puritans panicking over the most normal shit. If a 16-year-old is dating or even just friends with a 19-year-old, people act like it’s a literal crime. I’ve seen posts of parents losing their minds because their kid is hanging out with someone two years older. I’ve seen schools banning 12-year-old boys and girls from sharing the same floor or hotel rooms on school trips because "what if they breathe the same air?".

This isn't protection. It's mass paranoia.

​And the worst part? Big Tech and governments are using this fake panic to build a digital prison. They call it "protecting minors", but what they actually do is:

- ​Forcing facial recognition scans and biometrics just to use regular apps.

- ​Blocking older teens from messaging slightly younger teens, destroying normal friendships and social circles.

- ​Moving AI platforms and creative spaces to strict 18+ locks just because they are too lazy to moderate properly.

​Let's call it what it actually is: ADULTISM.

​Stop calling this ageism—ageism is usually aimed at the elderly. This is adultism in its purest, most toxic form. It’s the deep-seated belief that young people are subhuman, brainless animals who cannot think for themselves, cannot make their own medical choices, cannot work, and cannot handle any responsibility.

​Instead of treating minors like human beings and allowing them to learn how to navigate the world, the system chooses to completely lobotomize their freedom and padlock the internet. They treat 16 and 17-year-olds like toddlers while expecting them to magically become fully functioning, perfect citizens the second they turn 18.

​Even my own mom—who doesn't even know half the crazy shit that goes on in these internet circles—was completely horrified when I showed her what's happening. Even older generations can see that this is an unhealthy, authoritarian dystopia. Minors should have the right to work, the right to medical privacy without their parents breathing down their necks, and the right to live their lives without being tracked by facial scans at every step.

​"Protection" without rights is just incarceration. I'm sick of this adultist bullshit.

Just got locked out of Bluesky until I "verified my age" and of course that required me to either give this KWS company a copy of my ID, a face scan, or the last 4 digits of my SSN.

How about no.

Deleted the app and that's that.

Learn about How many Malls Ban Unaccompanied Minors? Malls with Youth Curfews. Malls with Parental guidance policies, Youth Escort policies, Parental Chaperoning policies.

It's passed both houses of the Minnesota legislature with just 2 total votes against it in both houses.

It's now in the hands of governor Tim Walz, who was the Democratic 2024 VP nominee. He can veto it without the legislature having a chance to override, since this was passed so late in the legislative session.

This is unlike any other social media law I'm ever seen before. It requires platforms to do some new review on each account every 2 weeks to make sure it meets the law's minimum age requirement of 16. (Which they'll probably increase to 18 within 5 years if this law survives court challenges.)

Good God, these laws keep getting worse and worse in each state.

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/94/2026/0/HF/4138/versions/5/

So, my mom just told me to commit suicide after I said that the classes at school are too overwhelming for me. Then she walked out of the room. Is this normal? She has told me before that if I want to hurt myself, I should just do it and that she wouldn't do anything to stop me, so I don't really find it surprising that she wants me to die.

“Lawmakers investigating recent abuse allegations at New Hampshire’s only state-run youth detention center are calling for the “immediate” replacement of its director, one in a list of sweeping recommendations released Tuesday.

The legislative committee began investigating operations inside the Sununu Youth Services Center in March, after the state Office of the Child Advocate reported the use of illegal restraints against children and a lockdown that spanned four to six weeks. The Disability Rights Center in New Hampshire has made similar allegations.”

I am not even speaking from a Youth Rights perspective, I’m just saying reality.

Even if for the sake of the argument they are right (which I think it may be 21, 25 is too much), the differences neurologically between an 18 year and an 25 year old are so minimal and insignificant, that’s it’s one of the least important factors in discriminating that age group.

The neurologically difference is so small, that’s personal maturity, intelligence, way of thinking, education, values and other things, are vastly more important to judge a person.

That’s why there is no rational way of argue, 18’s should be blindly discriminated because they are 18 and not 25. Because between 18 and 25 the difference neurologically is near zero, even if it exists. Other things matter.

It may sound too little from a Youth Rights perspective, but this is something, that can be agreed by anyone with basic logic.

The UN adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, and it is the most broadly adopted human rights treaty in history. Almost 190 nations have signed it. Almost four decades since, many children worldwide are still awaiting realisation of their rights under this convention.

Children's rights are not something novel. They have been recorded, accepted, and made mandatory through legislation in almost all nations of the world. But still, the disparity between what is written in books and what is experienced by the children in their everyday life continues to be one of the biggest failures of our system.

What are children’s rights?

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, there are four basic rights that form the foundation of all other children’s rights: non-discrimination, the best interest of the child, the right to survival and development, and the respect for the views of the child. On the basis of these rights, all other rights of children are derived. These rights include the right to education, health care, protection from abuse and exploitation, and many others.

These are not aspirational targets. These are rights that are recognised by law and that the government must protect. The problem is that there is a difference between obligation and execution.

The extent of the issue:

The numbers tell us a harsh story. According to UNICEF, an estimated 333 million children around the world are living in extreme poverty. Approximately 160 million children are involved in child labour, often in dangerous situations. About 244 million children are not attending schools across the globe. Moreover, one in two children is affected by violence each year.

The statistics are about individual children – children who have their own names and potentials and a life that was shortened or made difficult due to forces beyond their control. The magnitude of the problem should not be a cause for despair. It should be a cause for action.

"Children are not the people of tomorrow but are people of today. They have a right to be taken seriously and to be treated with tenderness and respect." — Janusz Korczak

Reasons for the persistence of violations

Violations of children’s rights do not occur in isolation. They are usually linked to wider failures within the system – poverty, conflict, discrimination, poor governance, and lack of social protection mechanisms. Children tend to suffer more in conflict regions from the impact of displacement, trauma, and the breakdown of education and health care systems. In areas where extreme poverty exists, some parents may have no choice but to make desperate decisions that affect their children.

Gender is equally important. The girls will be withdrawn from schools at an earlier age, get married while still young, and be excluded from decision-making processes which will affect them. Children who have disabilities will experience extra discrimination and will not access education and healthcare services like other children do.

Child Protection Measures that Work

Protection of children is not merely about putting laws in place; it involves ensuring effective implementation measures, raising community awareness, easy reporting processes, and true political will. It also involves providing resources to social workers, teachers, and health care practitioners who engage with children on a daily basis. It involves heeding children; after all, informed children are better able to tell when their rights are being violated.

Organisations operating on the grassroots level are very important within this ecosystem. This is because organisations operating on this level help to bridge the gap between policies and practice by engaging children and families within these communities.

The Unessa Foundation dedicates itself to championing the rights of all children and ensuring the systems and structures through which true protection can be offered. The mission of the foundation rests on an important principle, which is that a society that cares for its children invests in its future.

Children’s rights are not privileges.

Children’s rights are not contingent. Every child on this earth is entitled to children’s rights regardless of their background. We do not ask ourselves if we can afford to protect children’s rights but if we can afford not to.