Sailing Alone: Teenage Autonomy and Regimes of Childhood

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Should society intervene to prevent the risky behavior of precocious teenagers even if it would be impermissible to intervene with adults who engage in the same risky behavior? The problem is well illustrated by the legal case of the 13-year-old Dutch girl Laura Dekker, who set out in 2009 to become the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone, succeeding in January 2012. In this paper we use her case as a point of entry for discussing the fundamental question of how to demarcate childhood from adulthood. After summarizing the case, we identify a 'demarcation dilemma' that frames much of the public and expert debate. On the one hand, it seems morally imperative 'to treat like alike', which means that both children and adults should be allowed to undertake all actions for which they have the relevant competences. On the other hand, requiring proportional treatment of children and adults seems to neglect the special nature of childhood as a distinct stage in life that ends at a specific age. We introduce the notion of a 'regime of childhood' to deal with this problem. This regime includes several dimensions, including the limited liability for children, the supervisory responsibilities of parents, the role of age-based thresholds, and the overarching purpose of childhood as a context for developing autonomy. We argue that, all things considered, there are good reasons not to shift to a regime that offers individual children the option of qualifying for adulthood on the basis of ageneutral criteria.

Justice as a Family Value: How a Commitment to Fairness is Compatible with Love

“…Once families are convinced of the importance of justice, they then face the (often difficult) task of determining what justice actually demands in their own case. One important issue that many justice‐oriented families will need to address has to do with differences in the capacities and degrees of dependency among family members, particularly with regard to young children and family members with disabilities (Kittay ), but also with regard to adolescents’ complex transition to adulthood (Anderson and Claassen ).…”

Direitos Sexuais E Reprodutivos Das/Os Adolescentes: Discursos De Usuárias/Os E Profissionais De Saúde

“…Para lidar com o dilema entre a idade e competência como critérios, Anderson & Claassen (2012, p. 495) propõem o que denominaram "regime da infância", que inclui quatro dimensões: a tutela e a autoridade e responsabilidade limitada para a tomada de decisões pelos filhos; as responsabilidades de supervisão dos pais/representantes, o papel dos familiares para o desenvolvimento da autonomia. Esta visão destaca a emancipação da/do adolescente, que "enfatiza fortemente a ideia de amadurecer como pessoa autônoma" (Anderson;Claassen, 2012, p. 521).…”

“…A aquisição gradual de competências pelas/pelos adolescentes (Anderson;Claassen, 2012) Viner et al, 2012). As frases "las puertas abiertas para una mano amiga, que no que te va a señalar" expressam a necessidade de construir essa relação próxima, de confiança entre os serviços de saúde, profissionais e adolescentes: seu alcance permitirá "ganar la batalla"…”

A Philosophical Examination of Social Justice and Child Poverty

“…Children lack the competencies and autonomy to make many decisions for themselves and to know what is best for them, their actual wellbeing and their future well-being. Such a justification of partial paternalism toward children, which decreases as they grow up and become more mature, is widely acknowledged, although there is significant disagreement about the justificatory bases of paternalism and how far it should go; for example, in regard to teenagers and adolescents who show (nearly) the same competences as most adults (Archard 2004;Franklin-Hall 2013;Anderson and Claassen 2012).…”