ABSTRACT
The perspective of the child as immature, dependent and in need of protection distinguishes the child as ‘other’ to the adult. This dichotomy ignores the extent to which adults are likewise dependent upon others, including their children, practically, emotionally and when, for example, sick or old. It further hides the capacities and agency of children.47 Children are treated as if they are not thinking, active, determining beings, but non-subjects awaiting adulthood.48 However, we only need to look to the children who themselves care for dependent adults or siblings, or to children whose earnings are an essential contribution to the family income, or to consider the extent to which children themselves play a formative role in what is culturally valued, to begin to understand children differently.49
