The Right to Intellectual Development

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz exemplified the transformative power of intellectual pursuit despite systemic barriers, demonstrating that access to education and learning is not a privilege but a right foundational to human flourishing. For children, this concept asserts that intellectual development—reading, questioning, critical thinking, and creative expression—must be protected and nurtured as essential rights, not conditional rewards. Through Sor Juana's tradition, we recognize that denying children access to knowledge perpetuates cycles of injustice and limits their capacity for self-determination. Children's right to intellectual development encompasses quality education, freedom to ask questions, exposure to diverse ideas, and spaces for creative exploration. This right is particularly urgent for marginalized children who face barriers based on poverty, gender, race, or disability. By centering intellectual growth as a children's right, we affirm that every child deserves the opportunity to develop their capacities fully and claim their place in society as thinking, autonomous beings.