Children's Rights Movement Analysis

1960s was a decade when ordinary citizens took to the streets in many parts of the world to protest against policies of the government and to demand a change in society. African Americans faced segregation and were treated extremely violently in mostly the southern states of America by conservative factions in society. Martin Luther King Jr. led the Birmingham Campaign in 1963 to draw attention to the on-going segregation and actions of the police. One of the protests in this campaign was the Children’s Crusade, where thousands of children took part in a non-violent protest, but were met with brutal violence from the police. At the same time, South Africa faced Apartheid, a system of racial segregation enforced through legislation. While black

Martin Luther King Junior was a major influencer in the methods that were to be used in the Birmingham Campaign and the Children’s Crusade as he strongly believed in a policy of non-violence. King spoke to black citizens about this philosophy and its methods; and as volunteers increased, actions expanded. It is evident that King’s policy of non-violence inspired many and even inspired a 16-year-old boy called Raymond Goolsby to participate in the Children’s Crusade. King’s methods of non-violence were criticised by some, but were indoctrinated into the children who would participate in the Children’s

The Children’s Crusade was led by an established leader of the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr., while the Uprising was led by the students themselves. They both aimed to make a change in the society in which they lived by fighting for justice, equality and desegregation. At first, both planned to use non-violent tactics, yet when the students in the Soweto Uprising were faced with violence from the police, they retaliated by throwing stones and even killing police officers. The use of children in both these events are crucial for gaining attention in the media and touched the conscience of adults of all races. While the Children’s Crusade stayed true to King’s philosophy of non-violence, the Soweto Uprising resulted in violence from the police and the students, and yet they both made revolutionary changes in their countries. Therefore, the use of violence did not make a big difference, but the use of children in the protests did, as it was able to touch the conscience of adults. Such a study illustrates the importance that youth has on the world, and the changes that they can make. By comparing two events that used the youth of their country during a time of segregation, we are able to evidently see that firstly change was