Location
Presentation- College of Arts and Humanities
Document Type and Release Option
Thesis Presentation (Restricted to Georgia Southern)
Faculty Mentor
Dr. William Eaton
Faculty Mentor Email
weaton@georgiasouthern.edu
Presentation Year
2021
Start Date
26-4-2021 12:00 AM
End Date
30-4-2021 12:00 AM
Keywords
Georgia Southern University, Honors Symposium, Presentation
Description
In 2020, the documentary on The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez was brought to the screens of people all across the world. The film demonstrated the issues of the child welfare system and how children are affected. The case discussed in the film in which an 8-year-old boy was murdered sparked a new discussion on the rights of children and their protection. The Gabriel Fernandez case exposes the multitude of failures across the system. During the trial, Gabriel’s mother and stepfather were convicted for murder without parole. However, as more details emerged about the ones tasked with protecting Gabriel, many critics pointed out that there were dozens of people who were responsible, both directly and indirectly, for Gabriel’s death. Despite the overwhelming amount of evidence that many failed Gabriel and broke the laws put in place to protect children, those have not yet been held accountable. This introduces the conversation regarding accountability, obligation, and child vs. parent rights. Immanuel Kant, a late 18th century philosopher, provided what the rights of a child and parent are how these rights are necessary to the parent-child relationship. Following an analysis of Kant’s definition of right and the parental roles that must accompany a child, this paper will seek to determine the difference between the rights of children versus the rights of parents, and how such differences contribute to who should be held accountable in the frequent instances of child abuse, neglect, and domestic violence.
Academic Unit
College of Arts and Humanities
Childhood, Moral Obligation, and the Law in The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez
Presentation- College of Arts and Humanities
In 2020, the documentary on The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez was brought to the screens of people all across the world. The film demonstrated the issues of the child welfare system and how children are affected. The case discussed in the film in which an 8-year-old boy was murdered sparked a new discussion on the rights of children and their protection. The Gabriel Fernandez case exposes the multitude of failures across the system. During the trial, Gabriel’s mother and stepfather were convicted for murder without parole. However, as more details emerged about the ones tasked with protecting Gabriel, many critics pointed out that there were dozens of people who were responsible, both directly and indirectly, for Gabriel’s death. Despite the overwhelming amount of evidence that many failed Gabriel and broke the laws put in place to protect children, those have not yet been held accountable. This introduces the conversation regarding accountability, obligation, and child vs. parent rights. Immanuel Kant, a late 18th century philosopher, provided what the rights of a child and parent are how these rights are necessary to the parent-child relationship. Following an analysis of Kant’s definition of right and the parental roles that must accompany a child, this paper will seek to determine the difference between the rights of children versus the rights of parents, and how such differences contribute to who should be held accountable in the frequent instances of child abuse, neglect, and domestic violence.
Comments
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