The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

One of my favorite books is My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I actually read the novel before it was made into a movie. In the story, there are two sisters, Anna and Kate. Kate developed leukemia as a young child, so her parents had Anna so she could help her sister live by providing bone marrow and countless surgeries and blood transfusions for her sister. When Anna became a young teenager, her sister decided it was time for her family to let her go and told Anna to refuse helping any more surgeries so she could die peacefully. The trick was Kate didn't want Anna tell anyone that she wanted to die. So she ended up fighting her parents in court because they argued she was a child and needed to help her sister live, but Anna believed she should be able to make her own decisions when it comes to her body and her health. The girls' mother, Sara loved both her children and wanted them both alive. She was frustrated because she felt that Anna was being selfish, not realizing that this is what Kate wanted.

The ageism developed when Anna took her mom to court and tried to fight for her rights. Her mother basically fought that Anna was just a child and shouldn't be able to make the decision to let her sister die. I connected this while reading the article by Child Rights Information Network (2009) and this direct quote from the article:
"In most societies, children are presumed to lack the capacity to exercise their rights for themselves because they do not have the life experience and competence to make informed, rational decisions and must therefore be protected from the consequences of bad decisions. It is often assumed that age limits are the best way of achieving this protection, even if some children might attain competence at a younger age and others attain this later."
Later in the article they went on to say:
"However, in many cases, children's age and relative lack of experience is used as a justification for denying children rights to which they are entitled. In other words, children face exclusion and unfair treatment because of the low status accorded to childhood in most societies. For example, in most countries, children are often not allowed to file complaints with a court where adults can. This can have a detrimental impact on children's protection."

I believe this novel is directly related to the issue of ageism. While I was reading this novel, I became infuriated with the mother because she was basically dis-owning Anna when Anna decided she didn't want to live like a petri dish anymore. Anna grew up being poked and prodded and when she was brave enough to say she was done with it, her mother threw a big stink and made her feel like a horrible person, even though truthfully her sister Kate was behind it. I also see the mother's point of view because she loves both her daughters and didn't understand why Anna would do that to her sister. Once she realized that it was what Kate wanted, she began to understand Anna and forgave her.

I believe that legislation would need to take action in giving children the right to make decisions about their own bodies and health. When children express their concerns about how they are treated, it should be taken seriously and not pushed aside. Children are little adults in training and we must do everything in our power to protect them and help them live happy, successful lives.

References: 

Child Rights Information Network (CRIN). (2009). Discrimination: Briefing on age discrimination. Retrieved from http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=20940

Picoult, J. (2003) My Sister's Keeper. Atria Books. Washington Square Press, 2005

I also wanted to share this video I saw recently that relates to racism and how kids react to it when they realize racism still exists. I thought you all might enjoy this as we can make a huge impact in the world by teaching children to love everyone, no matter how different they may be. This video is inspiring! =)