Discourses of Childism: How covid-19 Has Unveiled Prejudice, Discrimination and Social Injustice against Children in the Everyday

Abstract

Do children suffer from discriminatory structures in society and how can issues of social injustice against children be conceptualised and studied? The conceptual frame of childism is examined through everyday expressions in the aftermath of policies affecting children in Sweden, the UK and Ireland to develop knowledge of age-based and intersectional discrimination against children. While experiences in Sweden seem to indicate that young children rarely suffer severe symptoms from covid-19, or constitute a driving force in spreading the virus, policy decisions in the UK and Ireland to close down schools have had detrimental effects on children in terms of child hunger and violence against children. Policy decisions that have prioritised adults at the cost of children have unveiled a structural injustice against children, which is mirrored by individual examples of everyday societal prejudice.

Children's lives and rights under lockdown: A Northern Irish perspective by autistic young people

“…It could be argued that the exclusion of autistic young people from decision‐making processes at times of crisis or emergency is tantamount to what we refer to here as ableist childism; the intersection between ableism (Goodley, 2014; Wolbring, 2018) and childism (Adami & Dineen, 2021; Yung‐Bruehl, 2012), that is, as a form of structural discrimination and based on prejudicial ideas about lack of or limited capacity for reasons due to childhood and/or disability. This paper responds to Adami and Dineen's call for an intersectional lens on how children are affected by overlapping systems of oppression (Adami & Dineen, 2021, p.356). The twin concepts of ableism and childism raise fundamental questions about larger social systems and structures where discriminatory experiences of children with disabilities are perceived as inevitable because of something that is wrong with them rather than the world around them.…”

COVID-19 Vaccination in Pediatric Population: A Necessity or Obstruction to the Protection of the Right to Health? Biojuridical Perspective

“…The arguments for a better natural immunity generated through infection, and the possible risk of vaccination in children, seem to be related to this unequal moral approach. Therefore, to fight hidden childism, more efforts should be put into combatting injustice against children's health ( 28 , 29 ).…”

Healthcare Professionals’ Conflicts When Treating Transgender Youth: Is It Necessary to Prioritize Protection Over Respect?

“…Harms and benefits of the provisions to reduce viral transmission were distributed unequally, to the detriment of children's quality of life. 27 When children's concerns are given less importance just because of their age and because adults are in power, then it is a case of age discrimination. So, in the case of trans children, transgender identity and age may be a reason for discriminatory treatment.…”