1762　Rousseau writes “Emile”

From ancient to modern times, children's rights have not been adequately protected. In the patriarchal families of ancient Rome, children were considered the property of the patriarchs, and their life and death were at the mercy of the patriarchs. In addition, children with disabilities or those deemed useless were subjected to thinning and infanticide.

Even in the Middle Ages, patriarchy was strong, and children were seen as objects to be abandoned or killed, or as labor, and their personalities were not respected.

In the modern age, the concept of “human rights,” including the “right to liberty,” such as freedom of religion and speech and inviolability of property rights, was established, and the development of the idea of human rights saw a growth in its development. However, it was developed on the basis of the exclusion of children and women. In fact, children were not seen as subjects of rights on the same level as adults, with Pascal stating that children are not human, and Hobbes stating that children are under the protection of their fathers and therefore are obligated to obey fathers and have no rights. John Locke recognized the natural rights of the child and “the right of the child to be reared by his parents until the child becomes independent,” but this was premised on corporal punishment by the parents and their right to strong supervisory control.

In these circumstances, Rousseau, as a pioneer of modern human rights thought, wrote “Emile”, in which he stated, “One does not know what a child is, and one has a wrong conception of children. They have a wrong conception of the child.” He wrote, “One pities the state of the child. They do not understand that if man had not been a child in the beginning, man would have perished long ago.” “When we begin to live, we also begin to learn, and this is when education begins.” He criticizes the patriarchal attitude toward children as mentioned above, and positions children as subjects of learning who have potential, receive education, and grow through learning.