Children’s rights
Children are too often treated as property and the extension of adults rather than as the individuals they are. Here’s a small sampling of books to challenge that assumption. Further recommendations welcome
created by Relentiless
last updated September, 2026
Comments
Giving this list a bump after the unfortunate conversation about children reading books with romance (from which I got blocked) this afternoon!!! 💝 Children deserve agency and trust! 📢
Saw this and was like woah, what did I miss? and now I don’t think I’ve ever been more flabbergasted in my life! This list most certainly deserves a bump!!
Hell yeah ❤️
Love this whole topic. We hold back our efforts to free other vulnerable groups when we continually refuse to advocate for the rights and agency of children. Thank you for bumping this!
seconding this. children are smarter than we realize and are the most oppressed group of people.
Eyyyy, I got blocked too! An excellent club to be in. (Also i saw your comment thread and you were WAY more patient with OP than they deserved.)
Definitely going to be perusing the list!
Yes! 🙌🏻 happy to be in the club! 🥰
My only regret is that I can’t popcorn gif my way through the comments anymore, but it’s probably better for my mental health that I go touch grass for a bit. 🤣
🤣 I had this exact thought! I’ll wait until this evening to touch grass though… it’s still super hot outside! 🥵
So I haven’t been on the last couple of days so missed it, but from what I can gather it all sounds a bit insane. Sorry that happened to you but glad people were advocating for kids
Honestly the most encouraging part of the whole thing was watching every single commenter agree that the OP’s opinions were horrible and we should unanimously reject them. It was awesome seeing so many people show up in actual defense of kids.
Love this and the idea behind it!! Well done 👏
Thank you! It’s something that a think about a lot since I started working with kids.
I understand! What do you do as a profession? If you dont mind me asking.
So I’ve changed roles a few times. I worked for about 5 years in a respite home for children with disabilities. Luckily the staff were good but you definitely see the intersection between children’s and disability rights in that environment. I then had ptsd after an incident and eventually did some mentoring with teens on the asd spectrum which I loved more than anything. Unfortunately I need money to live. I have a different role that’s less in person but still child wellbeing forward. I have steered clear of social services roles though as I find them soul destroying and very box ticking. Massive respect for anyone who does those roles well and with genuine empathy though!
Wow you are a hero!! I wanted to specialize in occupational therapy to help children or the elderly but people scare me sometimes since I have Bipolar disorder as well as extreme anxiety so I specialized in anatomy instead. Thus i dont work too much with people. I find that people who work in your field are all heroes 🙌
I worked with the elderly for nearly 10 years before that! Honestly if people ask me about going into care I tell them I really wouldn’t recommend it. The job would be amazing if it is properly staffed and paid but currently it’s (imo) soul and body destroying. I could rant about the state of support for the vulnerable in our society for a long time so will try to control myself. That still sounds like it’s a really important job. The trick is to find your own niche and not burn out! Knowing your own limitations is a skill and one I wish I’d had
I completely understand!! My grandad is 96 and he needs care now but care is so expensive yet the carer gets bad pay. Also some carers took bad care of him a few years earlier when he had an operation and now he is scared. I really want someone kind to help him, luckily my mom now wants to do a course in helping the elderly so she can care for him
I’m so sorry that happened to him. Bad carers are the worst and unfortunately leaves huge impact on people.
True 👍 and thank you!! But the good i found always outweighs the bad
💌🌻🫂💫🎨
this list reminds me of Matilda!! truly such a powerful book to empower children
That’s a great shout! I think a fiction equivalent list would be great idea
I think Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children by Mac Barnett fits here too!
