Child Marriage is A Human Rights Violation Needing Global Action

Child marriage is a violation of human rights, it takes away children's futures and the potential.

Marriages are binding contracts that requires maturity that children just do not have yet.

Forcing children into marriage means we are taking away their opportunity to go to school get an education, and enjoy a care free childhood.

The Idea that a child can actually consent to marriage is a big mistake from the beginning.

Children do not have the emotional and cognitive maturity to take big responsibilities that is taken when getting married, and they are simply not able to consent in such a context most of the time it is persuaded or suggested upon them in a way that takes away theirr will to decide.

Even if a child seems happy or says they want to marry, their actual ability to even understand the consequences of the decision they are about to make is just not there.

Children should be protected against the outcomes of decisions they are not in a state to think through.

Also, Child marriage causes poverty and gender inequality. A lot of times it results in early pregnancy, high health risks and economic dependency which in turn, force girls into a disadvantage cycle that can last for a lifetime.

We must speak in the favor of children's rights to develop, learn, and choose their own course of life that is not burdened with things like marriage which they cannot even manage to comprehend yet.

Child marriage is a violation of human rights... This sentence makes no sense.

Nothing can take away the future, since future is time which is going to come anyway.

The only potential which matters is happiness and liberty, but my opponent wants to take away those for some reason.

Child marriage taking away potential doesn’t change that some children are happy in marriage.

My opponent is making contradictive statements. He says that in order to be in child marriage, child must have maturity which child cannot have. Thus, child marriage cannot even exist.

Maturity is obviously not needed for marriage.

Children not having emotional and cognitive maturity doesn’t change the fact that they can want marriage and be happy in marriage.

My opponent wants to take away choice from them and decide for them, which is slavery.

Children are not in a state to think through school which is much more complicated than marriage.

Poverty, gender inequality, health risks, and early pregnancy don’t change that some children want to be in marriage and are happy in marriage.

Being burdened by marriage they cannot comprehend doesn’t change that some children are happy in marriage.

Don't act like you don't know what "future" means in this instance. Things like education opportunities, career advancement and personal freedom. Saying that time will come either way is like saying someone in jail still has a future, one day at a time. The question is that time, what you do with it and without any surprise, children are denied that right to shape their future through child marriage. My friend, being alive and living are not the same.

So, are we going to pretend that happiness is just ‘smiling through it all’? Children forced to marry may seem "happy", but only while their child marriages are maintained they have little freedom or real choices. Of course, most of these kids don't even realize that other than LC they could do something different because their parents would never hear to that those who did have been groomed or pressured into thinking it is normal. Your definition of happiness here is just about as substantial as a house made out of playing cards.

Look, just because a kid says they’re happy doesn’t mean we should accept that at face value. Kids say a lot of things. They’ll say they’re happy eating candy for every meal, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for them. The idea that some children are happy in these marriages doesn’t magically erase the fact that most are trapped in situations they didn’t choose and can’t escape from. You’re focusing on the exceptions and ignoring the majority who are hurt by this practice.

So because it shouldn’t happen, you’re saying it doesn’t happen? That’s a bit like saying child labor isn’t real because kids "can’t" work legally, right? But guess what it happens, and that’s the problem. Your argument that child marriage “can’t” exist doesn’t even make sense. Just because something shouldn’t happen doesn’t mean it doesn’t.

Wait, what?! So, you should let kids make one of their life's most important decisions without maturity? Next up.. 8 year olds are signing mortgages. Do you think marriage is a friends with benefits kind of relationship? A thing that is supposed to last forever a signed agreement that requires you for life, and forces you into acting like an emotionally, financially or just sexually responsible person Sometimes, kids do not know how to tie their shoes properly but u think they are ready for the life time commitment of company? Ppl these words only teach one thing that you are stupid. Come on.

Well what about informed consent? Not all children who desire to have something know what it is. Kids would love to stay up all night eating pizza and TV, but that doesn't mean it's healthy for them. That has nothing to do with “wanting”, but you may be misunderstanding what really would be the best for them. They can call themselves happy to their heart's content, but they cannot grasp what it is that they are signing up for. It would be ridiculous to allow a child to enter into a legally binding contract without understanding it so why is marriage any different

Seriously? Slavery is not "protecting children from decisions that will harm them". It’s called responsibility. If we or our government stops kids from working dangerous jobs or drinking alcohol, do you call it "slavery"? We care about them because they have not yet begun the process of taking care of themselves. That is not giving our kids freedom by allowing them to marry 10 year olds, that is putting deep chains on them without even informing them they have shackles around their ankles. True freedom is respecting them and allowing the time for it all to grow up beautifully.

Wait a minute, school harder than marriage? The Poet (marriage) (Often dealing with networking relationships, and complicated financial/legal situations including shared custody of children. I do not know what marriage is in your world, but in reality, it is a far cry from choosing whether or not to do your algebra worksheet. After all, school is designed to ready us for the future, and marriage requires professional level responsibilities that kids just don't have the tools for.

So recently, because evidently some misguided young people "yearning" to be married, we should throw all the poverty and inequity and health risks at them as early as possible... right? In other words, it's equivalent to saying, "Well, there are people out there who like playing with IEDs so hey, why worry about safety?" You are just as selectively seeing the few cases of happiness and being like “see this proves that it’s not always harmful so what are you complaining about? That is what human rights are about, looking after everyone the same way.

So, let me get this straight: Kids don't know that marriage is a burden (your words), so we ought to leave them there alone with it anyway? That is more than incorrect, it is heartless. When someone is walking into a trap, should we just Turn The Other Cheek and go;" Oh well, they are happy for now!"? Of course not. Funny thing how ignorance stops being bliss if you are still paying the price for it years later. Your comparison is the equivalent of someone signing off on a contract they cannot read and then saying it's ok because a smile was present when they signed it.

Confusing fluency with control is incredibly naive, you never grasped that true happiness and freedom isn't the capacity to speak and read well, it's about having choices, in a way that makes sense. No young girl would want to get married if she had a choice, keeping them in school simply gives them the time, education, information and tools they need to make the best decisions possible about their future.

You highlight the occasional rags to riches to rags story to justify a system that profoundly subjugates the large population of children under its sway. This isn't about control of kids this is to protect them from being preyed up on and grow up with all of their potential intact.

Please, rethink your position, because right now, you're defending a system that robs children of their futures under the guise of "happiness."

Education opportunities, career advancement, and personal freedom don’t change that some children want to be in marriage and are happy in marriage.

Happiness is not 'smiling through it all,' nor did I define happiness like that, so attacking the definition I didn’t even use is an obvious strawman.

If children say over and over that they are happy, then they probably are.

My position is that marriages in which children are happy and want to be in marriage are the ones which should be allowed, while forced and non-happy ones should be abolished.

Making one of their life's most important decisions without maturity doesn’t change that some children are happy in marriage and want to be in marriage.

Taking away choices is by definition slavery. Renaming it to 'responsibility' doesn’t change that it is slavery.

Child marriage that is happy and wanted is not a trap.

It’s not true that no young girl would want to get married if she had a choice.

First things first just because you want something does not make it okay for you, even with children. Your point oversimplifies the issue, suggesting that child marriage is about a little girl who wants sexual intercourse with an older man and disregards all the many implications that has on her future. What is realized through a bad choice that doesn't really lead to true happiness, but that results from manipulation and socialization.

Allow me to explain: the happiness you are referring to often comes with strings that most children who grow up in these situations believe to be standard. Happiness can only be anchored in a particular context. But the happiness given by a forced marriage can easily lead to a facade of imprisonment and the absence of real choices. You are being oblivious to the fact that children may not even regard themselves as deserving any more than a life preordained by other people

The delusion that repetition is synonymous with truth. Kids usually do not have the brain power to fully believe through ramifications of their choices. It may even make them smile and be happy right then, they are not capable of comprehending the possible long term ramifications. Persisting only that they be happy now ignores how child marriage still is as harmful to these girls who are heard beneath societal and family pressure.

The problem with your position is that it assumes that a childs welfare can so neatly be cordoned off against the structural harms we know automatic coupledom young presents. You cannot give happy couples THEIR example and sweep under the rug everything else that goes on in our societies of systemic oppression and exploitation. While certain kids may appear happy while being prostituted that does not mean prostitution is healthy or life long.

This is a massive misconception of what maturity means. Marriage cannot be seen a light decision whatever the case, it is serious! It is reckless and fully irresponsible to suggest that children can make such life altering decisions when they are not at an emotional or developmental stage to do so. That would be a scary over simplification of relationships between individuals and the obligations engaged in by marriage.

We are interested in the particular form of freedom (or lack thereof), to be sure, but also in how we conceive political and social freedom. And exploitation is not liberation when children are not in a position to choose otherwise. What is freedom if we are not free to make good and conscious decisions? It is no more slavery to protect children from harmful decisions than it is enslavement to safeguard their futures.

Oh right, because if a child tells you they're happy not leaving the situation adults, no problem… It would be like saying a person who is drowning is "happy" cause they have not learnt to swim. If a child does not plainly see the pitfall they up being shuffled toward, that does not indicate it is any less of a trap. It would be like directing someone to walk blindfolded into oncoming traffic and then patting them on the back because, hey, they said they are ok. Stupidity may seem like bliss, but it is just a smiling tragedy.

Well, some kids might be ready for marriage! Why wouldn’t they? Or that they only want to eat candy for dinner and can fly when they wear a cape. Just because something is good for them. Yes, a child may dream of marriage as it is a fairy tale, but who are we kidding, what do you really THINK that means. The details you are glazing over in that and they do not have the life experience or emotional maturity to decided such things. And they don't "want" anything, they are being sold a fairy tale not the real thing, and you've fallen for it like this shit is half priced.

You are just trying to dress up a barbaric and cruel practice as reasonable argument. What you mean to say is, "Oh, the kids are claiming they're happy and by golly we have just enough evidence upon which to rest our hopes that this must always be so." Spoiler: a child's short term idea of happiness today is not worth trading their entire adult life. Perhaps, instead of perpetrating the practice that binds young people into lives they only sort of know about, you ought to button your lip. Because right now? You advocate something in the process that does far more damage than good, calling it “freedom” is an utter joke.