ABSTRACT
‘Children’s rights’ assumes a background framework of knowledge about ‘human rights’ of which children’s rights can be considered an integral part. Archard suggested that a number of perspectives would render a distinction between children and adults; for example, moral, juridical, philosophical and political. The particular shape of an education system in any society must be based on a view about the ability of children to receive and process knowledge, in other words, cognitive development. Pre-operational children will develop an internal representation of the outside environment that allows them to provide a description of people, events and feelings. ‘Childhood’ assumes some kind of understanding of what it means to be a child, and, by implication, an adult. The controversies in historical research about childhood are not made easier by the difficulties in locating reliable source materials. Sigmund Freud emphasised the significance of an individual’s experiences in childhood, and much of his work focused on mental disorders rather than normal functioning.
