NO AGREEMENT ON THE DEFINITION OF A CHILD

According to African Charter and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), a child is anyone aged under eighteen. However, there is still no region-wide agreement on the definition of a child. There are also significant inconsistencies in setting various minimum ages such as for criminal responsibility, sexual consent and marriage.(African Child Policy Forum).Furthermore, nine of eighteen survey countries including Burundi, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zimbabwe have no official definition of a child in their legislation or constitution. The African Child Policy (2007:4) argued that children are still not a top priority in Eastern and Southern Africa, despite the number of countries that have become party to the CRC and the African Charter. Again in Zimbabwe discrimination against children frequently still exists under the law on grounds of sex, ethnicity, disability and parentage. For example, the minimum ages of marriage and or sexual consent for boys and girls is a contested issue. In Zimbabwe it is sixteen years for girls with no minimum set for boy. In the study the role of the Children Civic Society Organisation and the media in educating the masses about such rights about age limit is assessed. The study seeks to ascertain the representation of children through the media and how journalist fully protect and provide a debate forum about the rights of children in their newspapers

Who is a child?
The term “child” is contested and age alone cannot be a sufficient yardstick to measure childhood. Article 1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), defines a ‘child” as a person below 18 years, unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier (Ncube 1998:100) The UNICEF fact sheet gives a summary of the rights and quoted Convention on The Right of the Child {Article 1} as follows;
The Convention defines a “child” as a person below the age of 18, unless
the laws of a particular country set the legal age for adulthood younger.
The committee on the rights of the child, the minority body for the
convention, has encouraged states to review the age of majority if it is set
below 18 and to increase the level of protection for all children under 18

From the above quotation it can be argued that the CRC gives option to the state to decide the age limit for children. One salient issue about this convention is that 18 is the maximum age for childhood and anything below that qualifies to be within the bracket of childhood stage. Ncube (1998) claimed that this age limit allows for exceptions in countries where the age of majority is set lower. It can be argued that in customary law, age has no relevance in determining childhood or adulthood. Adulthood is marked by factors that have more to do with biology or physical development, ability, the purpose for which a definition of childhood or adulthood is sought and status, that with the number of years a person has lived. In addition, Ncube (1998) says that;

Physical development entails the attainment of puberty and the undergoing,
for girls, of initiation ceremonies associated with it-Kuvundikwa (Tonga,
Chisung (Bemba) Mwalanjo (Lozi) and so on…The relevant criteria for boys
are also the undergoing and successful accomplishment of initiation task ( for
example the Lozi Milaka)

It can be argued from the above quotation it makes it difficult to have a universal definition of the term child. Various nations or ethnic groups may have different yard sticks to measure the age that constitute childhood. In this study any minor within the range of 8-18 is used as the targeted population for the study. The reason for such age limit is that these are children who can express some of their feelings clearly and can speak for themselves as well as in the press if given the permission by the society and the media.

Achebe (1958:3) in one of his novel; “Things Fall Apart” discusses children at various levels and even how they were abused. Okonkwo a man who was 18 years old and had brought honour to his village by throwing Amalinze the cat was regard as a child. Again twins in an African context were put in earthen-ware pots and thrown away in the forest. Such a practice is tantamount to murder and is violation of the children’s rights and this is supported by the following quotation; “ Nwoye, Okonkwo’s son had heard that twins were put in earth-ware pots and thrown away in the forest…” (Achebe1958:43). The abuse of children’s rights in Achebe’s novel assisted the researcher to identify the ways through which children in Africa need to be protected. Children can be used for reparations to avoid an avenging spirit and sometimes can be killed for ritual ceremonies. The good example is through Ikemefuna a doomed lad who was sacrificed to the village of Umofia by their neighbours to avoid war and bloodshed. Achebe (1958:8) describes an ultimatum that was immediately dispatched by Umofia to their neighbours demanding the offer of a young man and a virgin as compensation. Nagging and beating of children by their parents is violation of their rights. In the book Okonkwo beats his son for his ‘incipient laziness”. Again it is an African custom to deter children from eating certain food such as eggs.

In one of the Zimbabwean short stories anthologies entitled “No More Plastic Balls and other Stories” by Chihota and Muponde (2000), Mhiripiri contributed a story about a girl child called Nesta who dropped out of school because there was no money for fees. Elista a girl child aged sixteen had to have a love relationship with Joel. Joel was above 18 and use to abuse Elista by exposing her to vulgar language such as “fucking, beast” and so forth. This story assists the study to describe the abuses of children’s rights in Zimbabwe, especially a girl child. Morrison (1999:83) says that;
Children should also be protected against customs and practices that prejudice
their health and discriminate against them. Special attention needs to be given
to a girl child as they are often physically more vulnerable to abuse than boys
are

Adulthood can be further marked by the ability to procreate and a person who has a child at whatever young age is considered an adult. Ncube (1998) states that the purpose for which adulthood is being considered may also be a factor in defining whether a person is or is not a child. It can be argued that in both sex, adulthood can be confirmed by marriage. Thus, a person under the age of 18 years, for example, a 12 year old married girl or boy, may not claim rights, including participatory rights, as a child under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Armstrong (1995:340) argued that;
However, it might also be a matter of considerable concern to many people
that a 12 year old person, for example, should be considered to be an
adult by the customary law regime of a country and, therefore, not entitled
to claim the protection and benefits of the convention
Ncube (1991) argued that the above issue cannot be resolved by attempts to impose the international (Convention) definition of childhood over the local, customary standard when they conflict, because there is, technically, no conflict involved.