Childhood as Subject of Rights? Children & Adolescents Through the Socio-Legal Discourse in Argentina’s Sexual Education Act

Abstract

This article looks at the discursive strategies revolving around the conception of childhood, parting from the analysis of the main Argentinean parliamentarian’s discourses, at the time of the discussion of the Integral Sexual Education Program. As I will argue, despite legislative reforms that considered children and adolescents as subjects of right –even for legislators identified as “radical”–, the adult-centric point of view has not been overcome. The adult’s position of domination remains intact, as children are seen as passive subjects, unable to understand or reconstruct the social world around them.

Este artículo examina las estrategias discursivas en torno a la concepción de la infancia a partir del análisis de los debates parlamentarios al momento en que se discute la sanción de la Ley de Educación Sexual Integral en Argentina. Como argumentaré, a pesar de las diversas reformas legislativas que consideran a las niñas, niños y adolescentes como sujetos de derecho –aún en el caso de los legisladores identificados como “radicales”–, el punto de vista adulto-céntrico no ha sido superado. La posición adulta dominante permanece intacta, esto es, concebir a las niñas, niños y adolescentes como sujetos pasivos, incapaces de comprender o de reconstruir el mundo social que los rodea.