The Protection of the Childhood in Situations of Risk in Latin America through the Codes of Childhood

The protection of the rights of childhood in Latin America since the ratification of the Convention on Rights of the Child by all countries of the region has reached a broad development and implementation on a legal level in accordance with this international treaty. The objective of this article is to analyse different codes of childhood which were approved by a majority of the countries of the region and which are the most effective expression of this international treaty, and the show to be a tool for the work of the social educators. In this article we analyse these codes with a comparative methodology using the underlying categories of the Convention as a model and concentrating on two points: measures to protect children in situations of social risk and juvenile justice, in addition to institutions that provide protection. This choice seems relevant because it shows a field of intervention in social education. We come to the following relevant conclusion by means of a comparative analysis: the codes generally show a high degree of congruence with the Convention, even though an exaggerated emphasis in the field of measures for infant protection, especially in juvenile justice, can be observed; the codes equally insist on measures for infant protection, socio-educational means of juvenile justice, and they present a large network of institutions at different administrative levels which exists in the region and which includes ombudsmen for children.