This indivisibility of rights is key to interpreting the Convention. Decisions with regard to any one right must be made in the light of all the other rights in the Convention. For example, it is not sufficient to ensure that a child receives immunization and health care, only for that child on reaching the age of 14 to be sold into bonded labour or conscripted into an army. It is not enough to guarantee the right to education, only to fail to ensure that all children are enrolled in school and can go to school equally, regardless of gender or economic class. The Convention on the Rights of the Child reflects a new vision of the child.
Children are neither the property of their parents nor are they helpless objects of charity.
They are human beings and are the subject of their own rights. The Convention offers a vision of the child as an individual and as a member of a family and community, with rights and responsibilities appropriate to his or her age and stage of development. By recognizing children's rights in this way, the Convention firmly sets the focus on the whole child. Considered the most powerful legal instrument for the recognition and protection of children's human rights, the Convention draws on the following unique combination of strengths. Highlights and defends the family's role in children's lives .