History: Children Of The Past, 19th Century, Photos By Charles Johnson

Legal, biological, and social definitions
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as "a human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier." Ratified by 192 of 194 member countries. Some English definitions of the word child include the fetus and the unborn. Biologically, a child is anyone between birth and puberty or in the developmental stage of childhood, between infancy and adulthood. Children generally have fewer rights than adults and are classed as not able to make serious decisions, and legally must always be under the care of a responsible adult.