Will the real oppressed group please stand up?

Will the real oppressed group please stand up?

- Introduction -

- Evidence for oppression -

- Shoving food -

- Restricting Internet access -

- Medical treatment -

- No political representation -

- Prison without a crime -

- What happens if a child really doesn't want something? -

- Parental abuse horror stories -

- Parental abuse causes chronic disease -

- The solution to parental abuse -

- Even aware people support useless solutions -

- Do kids have rights? -

- Perfect Parenting Prescription -

- No, it's not for their safety -

- Summary -

- How to fix? -

Introduction

Let's start with a riddle: When done against which group are these actions widely accepted?

Not letting them leave the house without permission

Spying on them (through phone, etc) assuming they've been graciously granted the permission to get out

Shoving them food that they don't want to, when they don't want to

Screaming at them, threatening them, etc.

Beating them

Throwing away their stuff

Restricting Internet usage

Controlling their looks - clothing, hair, makeup, etc.

Making them sit for 7 hours per day, five days per week, writing stuff down that they don't care about

Having them get medical treatment that they didn't agree to, including invasive, potentially life destroying surgery

Some groups commonly considered discriminated against are women, transgenders, non-whites, the poor, the disabled, sometimes men or even white men specifically. But if you look at the list, it's clear that none of them have to deal with most of the stated violations. Even if some do deal with some of them (eg. a woman with an abusive partner), most often that is not accepted culturally or legally. All those groups also usually have a way to escape their bad situation or a way to prevent it from surfacing in the first place (I think only an extremely disabled person might be an exception here). Yet there is a group that overwhelmingly suffers from most or sometimes even all of listed issues, and their abuse is treated as mostly fine from the legal and especially cultural standpoints. They often have no way to escape or affect their situation at all. Can you figure the answer out now? IT'S THE KIDS!

And now the second riddle: when have you last heard anyone talking about it? I have to admit I never once have. Sure, a few "minors" have complained to me about how their parents treat them, but not as a general principle. And the media - whether mainstream or alternative; conservative or progressive - never touches this topic. When you compare that to the prevalent coverage of the "pink tax", "transgender genocide", "black lives matter", or even "ableism", the blind spot is very very obvious. And just to be clear, I'm not against any other group voicing grievances (whether they are valid or not so valid) about their own discriminations - I just want to shine light on the one that's been completely and utterly ignored. To support my experience with something more concrete, I searched for Most Discriminated Groups on Google (SearX really but only this one engine happened to work), and these came up:

https://www.pewresearch.org/2024/04/02/views-on-discrimination-in-our-society/ (archive) (MozArchive) - only talks about races and religions.

https://www.un.org/en/fight-racism/vulnerable-groups (archive) (MozArchive) - People of African Descent; Indigenous Peoples; Roma, Sinti and Travelers; Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities; Migrants; Refugees, Asylum-seekers, and Internally Displaced People; People Living in Extreme Poverty; Women; LGBTQI+ People; wow, there are so many! It seems the only one they left out is...kids.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/03/18/majorities-of-americans-see-at-least-some-discrimination-against-black-hispanic-and-asian-people-in-the-u-s/ (archive) (MozArchive) - race issues.

https://www.library.hbs.edu/working-knowledge/why-the-largest-minority-group-faces-the-most-hate (archive) (MozArchive) - more race issues.

https://www.reddit.com/r/mapporncirclejerk/comments/1jvh8rz/most_discriminated_groups_across_europe (archive) (MozArchive) - even more race issues.

https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/article/poverty-and-discrimination/ (archive) (MozArchive) - Speaks about kids, but mostly in terms of them not receiving essential services they need to survive, learn and be protected (as in, it's poverty that is the problem, and not the actual discrimination of kids, solely because of the fact that they are kids). In fact, they want to ensure that no child’s learning is disrupted for more than a month - so, the kid will be shoved into the torture chamber known as school. There is nothing in this piece about respect for the kids or their autonomy. So despite supposed good intentions, this article only perpetuates evil cultural and legal norms.

https://www.thetoptens.com/groups/discriminated-groups/ (archive)...