Editing Child (section)

== Biological, legal and social definitions ==
[[File:Children games Louvre Ma99 n2.jpg|thumb|Children playing ball games, Roman artwork, 2nd century AD]]
In the biological sciences, a child is usually defined as a person between birth and puberty,<ref name="Child"/><ref name="Mosby"/> or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty.<ref name="Rathus"/> Legally, the term ''child'' may refer to anyone below the age of majority or some other age limit.

The [[United Nations]] [[Convention on the Rights of the Child]] defines ''child'' as, "A human being below the age of 18 years unless under the [[law]] applicable to the child, [[Age of majority|majority]] is attained earlier."<ref name="un">{{cite web|url=http://www.hakani.org/en/convention/Convention_Rights_Child.pdf |title=Convention on the Rights of the Child|department = General Assembly Resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989   |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101031104336/http://www.hakani.org/en/convention/Convention_Rights_Child.pdf |archive-date=31 October 2010 |publisher=The Policy Press, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights}}</ref> This is ratified by 192 of 194 member countries. The term ''child'' may also refer to someone below another legally defined age limit unconnected to the age of majority. In [[Singapore]], for example, a ''child'' is legally defined as someone under the age of 14 under the "Children and Young Persons Act" whereas the age of majority is 21.<ref>{{cite web|title=Children and Young Persons Act|url=http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/aol/search/display/view.w3p;page=0;query=DocId%3A911aba78-1d05-4341-96b7-ee334d4a06f0%20%20Status%3Ainforce%20Depth%3A0;rec=0|website=Singapore Statutes Online|access-date=20 October 2017|archive-date=3 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203075312/http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/aol/search/display/view.w3p;page=0;query=DocId:911aba78-1d05-4341-96b7-ee334d4a06f0%20%20Status:inforce%20Depth:0;rec=0|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Proposal to lower the Age of Contractual Capacity from 21 years to 18 years, and the Civil Law (Amendment) Bill |publisher=[[Ministry of Law (Singapore)|Ministry of Law]] |location=Singapore |url=http://www.mlaw.gov.sg/content/minlaw/en/news/public-consultations/proposal-to-lower-the-age-of-contractual-capacity-from-21-years-to-18-years-and-the-civil-law.html |access-date=21 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626054418/https://www.mlaw.gov.sg/content/minlaw/en/news/public-consultations/proposal-to-lower-the-age-of-contractual-capacity-from-21-years-to-18-years-and-the-civil-law.html |archive-date=26 June 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In U.S. Immigration Law, a child refers to anyone who is under the age of 21.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1101|title=8 U.S. Code § 1101 - Definitions|website=LII / Legal Information Institute}}</ref>

Some English definitions of the word ''child'' include the [[fetus]] (sometimes termed ''the unborn'').<ref name="SeeShorter">See Shorter ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' 397 (6th ed. 2007), which's first definition is "A fetus; an infant;...".  See also ‘The Compact Edition of the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'': Complete Text Reproduced Micrographically’, Vol. I (''Oxford University Press'', Oxford 1971): 396, which defines it as: ‘The unborn or newly born human being; foetus, infant’.</ref> In many cultures, a child is considered an adult after undergoing a [[rite of passage]], which may or may not correspond to the time of puberty.

Children generally have fewer rights than adults and are classed as unable to make serious decisions, and legally must always be under the care of a responsible adult or [[child custody]], whether their parents divorce or not. <!--Recognition of childhood as a state different from adulthood began to emerge in the 16th and 17th centuries. Society began to relate to the child not as a miniature adult but as a person of a lower level of maturity needing adult protection, love and nurturing. This change can be traced in paintings: In the [[Middle Ages]], children were portrayed in art as miniature adults with no childlike characteristics. In the 16th century, images of children began to acquire a distinct childlike appearance. From the late 17th century onwards, children were shown playing with toys and later [[Children's literature|literature for children]] also began to develop at this time.<ref>{{cite web| vauthors = Sharnette H |url=http://www.elizabethi.org/contents/essays/childhood.htm |title=Essays on childhood|publisher=Elizabethi.org |access-date=9 October 2013}}</ref>-->