INTERNATIONAL CHILDRENS RIGHTS - CAN THEY MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN AMERICAN FAMILY POLICY

The United States' actual and potential use of international children' s rights' standards are detailed, and the substance and aspirations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (U.N. General Assembly, 198 9) with current US family policy and jurisprudence are compared. The e xamination highlights the importance of considering diverse forums and forces that may influence the eventual implementation of children's i nternational human rights. The analysis also underscores the striking divergence between international and CTS. approaches to children's rig hts. The author concludes that current efforts to play) down differenc es and obligations create a danger of making eventual ratification of international children's rights' treaties a Pyrrhic victory, if any.