Chapter 1 · social responsibility
A child is a person, not a project
A new section opens here — the nursery’s responsibility to society. It starts with the most basic claim of all: a child has rights.
Responsibility (a)
Full regard for rights, respect for personhood
A nursery must give full regard to children’s human rights, and must carry out its childcare with respect for each child’s individual personhood.
But here’s the key
Not “someday” rights — rights right now
It’s easy to think of a two-year-old as a future person whose rights matter later. This article says the opposite: a child’s dignity and rights are already in force, today, in this room. A raised voice, a rushed diaper change, a decision made without a glance at the child’s face — these are rights questions, not manners questions.
In real life
Asking before I wipe a face
Even with a one-year-old, I say “I’m going to wipe your mouth now” before I do it — and I watch for the flinch or the lean-in. It takes one extra second. But it’s the difference between doing something to a child and doing something with them. That second is where respect for personhood actually lives.
A common misunderstanding
“They’re too young to have opinions about this.”
“A baby can’t consent to anything, so there’s nothing really to ask permission for.”
“Even a baby can show me, through their body, whether they’re ready — and I can watch for that.”
Why this matters to you
This article is the legal floor under everything else in this series. Every method, every environment choice, every “why this matters” post you’ve read comes back to this one sentence: the child in front of you already has rights, and they are yours to protect, not grant.
Your turn
Where today did I do something to a child instead of with them?
Add one second of “asking” to that moment tomorrow.
About Bond Japan
NPO Bond Japan
Bond Japan connects international schools so they can learn from one another and deepen a shared understanding of early childhood education and care.
