Tension between autonomy and protection

Children are a problem for liberalism -- and it’s one you can see in everything from school-board wars to fights over “indoctrination.” If all individuals are free and equal, endowed with rights by their Creator, then does that include children? Kids are fully human, yes, but they’re also dependent, impulsive, and not yet capable of adult autonomy. So when do rights actually kick in?

Rita Koganzon, a political theory professor at UNC Chapel Hill, has a blunt answer: adult-style rights have to start at a fixed age, and before that, children don’t really have any rights. Not because children don’t matter, but because the alternatives get dangerous fast. If the state gets to decide, case by case, who’s mature enough, you hand the government a tool it can easily abuse. And if you grant full autonomy, you’re pushed toward conclusions most people reject, especially around sex, consent, and how much say kids should have over institutions like schools.

Host Jerusalem Demsas isn’t so sure it’s that simple. She agrees there’s no clean, fully consistent liberal theory of childhood, but she’s skeptical that “no rights” is the least-bad answer, or that our current equilibrium properly protects kids from harm without handing parents a blank check. The result is a bracing debate about where liberal principles bend, where they break, and what we’re really choosing when we draw the line between child and adult.

The Argument is a podcast dedicated to honest, unflinching debate about the biggest questions facing democracy, culture, and our future. As the host, Editor-in-Chief Jerusalem Demsas brings together voices across the political spectrum to argue, challenge, and persuade. Each episode is a space where disagreements are confronted directly, with clarity and conviction, rather than hidden or shouted down.

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Articles, studies, and posts referenced in the episode can be found on our website.

The Argument's production team includes Ranjani Chakraborty, Mylan Cannon, Isabella Pereira, Angela Tracy, Eli Richman, and Kate Crawford with music by Breakmaster Cylinder. If you want to hear more of The Argument, you can become a subscriber at The ArgumentMag.com.