President's Pen
One of the principal objections that I have heard from people for a long time about our organization is that it would undermine the power and authority of parents. In a way they are right; our aims would decrease the power of parents to some extent. However, our opponents are flawed in their assertion that this is a bad thing.
A very sensitive issue concerning parental power is that of corporal punishment. Experts on both sides have been debating the effectiveness of using corporal punishment on children for years. It is unfortunate that this debate is even necessary. If someone hits their spouse, they can go to jail, but if they hit their child, it is considered acceptable, at least to a certain point. In a society that is already very violent, one must question the wisdom of this. It is well known that young children learn by example and if the example they see is corporal punishment, it is what they will learn. A judge has even upheld the supposed right of a parent to beat his children weekly with a belt to "instill discipline". What about the rights of the child to be free from physical assault? Young people shouldn't be considered as property.
Another major point of debate about ASFAR's views is that we support eliminating legal distinctions between young people and adults. Will this undermine parental power? Not really, because the economic power is still going to be in the hands of parents. The purpose of ASFAR's stand is to support young people who have parents that neglect and abuse them, so that they have legal recourse. And why shouldn't young people who start their own business with their own blood, sweat, and tears, be able to act on his own behalf for his own business. Why shouldn't young people be able to control the money that they earn? I, and many other ASFAR members, certainly support good and empowered patenting, but it should be the right kind of empowerment. Parents need to spend more meaningful time with their children and less time on power trips. The government should not assist parents in their power trips by denying legal rights to young people, especially in cases where the parents are abusive.
ASFAR's approach is the one that would truly empower parents and children to work together towards improving the path of growing up by eliminating government interference in the process.