A child (plural: children) is a boy or girl who has not reached puberty, but also refers to offspring of any age. Adults remain the children of their parents, no matter what their age. The term is also used figuratively, for someone who behaves like a child. It can be applied to non-human offspring, as in the child node of a tree.
Legal definition of child
The legal definition of "child" is interchangeable with minor and may vary by country, in keeping with cultural conceptions.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as "every human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier". [1]
In a New York court ruling in 2006 on the eviction of a pregnant woman, the court declared that her child was equally protected under the law although the eviction notice was served before the child was born. |
Article Details