when i was a kid, for a very long time, my thoughts were focused on suicide. when, where, how. came close to acting on those thoughts many times. punching myself was my version self-harm, no cuts, only hideable bruises, i didn't realize it at the time, i just knew it took my mind off of things, that pain.
but why? because no adult in my life saw children as people. i was thing, dragged along to show off how good my parents were. anything different needed to be hid. i was forced to attend school where i was bullied, othered, talked down to, harassed, or ignored otherwise. i had no choices, no way of standing up for myself, because it punished if i did. and i was punished over and over again.
i was hit, i was verbally abused for two decades by my immediate and extended family, and i was sexually abused by my older brother before i was allowed to understand what was happening.
children desperately need rights. they need the power to say no and have that be backed up by a system that will support them. i didnt want to kill myself, i wanted to escape my family and there was no other option available to me. i isolated myself for years because of the abuse i faced and many more never made it past their suicide attempts.
children need rights so that the rampant and plain-as-day abuse they face can have a chance of being stopped. when children have somewhere they can go, away from their families and abusers where they have a guaranteed bed to rest in, when children have the knowledge they need to identify when they're being abused, when children arent forced into labor by parents, guardians, or companies, when children arent forced to say yes to adults, when children have the freedom to express themselves, when children have the freedom to choose who they are and transition,
WHEN CHILDREN CAN SAY "NO"
is when i can finally be truly happy
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