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The Stand Up for Youth contest was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Human Rights Program of Canadian Heritage.

This project is a joint effort with:

Freedom of Religion

Geeta, Her Parents and Their Religion

Freedom of Religion for Children and Teenagers

You have been a family law lawyer for close to 15 years. Last week, you gave a workshop on the Convention on the Rights of the Child to teenagers in a high school.

After the workshop, a girl asked if she could discuss something privately with you. In a nutshell, she wants to know if her parents can force her to follow their religious practices.

This is her story: Geeta (not her real name) is 13 years old and lives with both her parents. She generally gets along with them.

Geeta’s parents are very observant. Religion plays an essential role in their lives. They keep a shrine at home and do puja every day.

As parents, they consider it their right, if not their duty, to transmit their religious values to their daughter.

Until now, Geeta has been more or less content to follow her parents’ religious practices. But lately, she has been questioning her beliefs. Frankly, she is bored with the rituals.

To her parents’ dismay, Geeta is now refusing to follow their beliefs. They really tried to understand, but Geeta just told them: “It’s not important to me! I’d rather play video games.”

Her father was very angry and told her: “You’re too young to decide to stop practicing your religion. You can choose for yourself when you’re older!”

Then her parents grounded her and suspended her allowance.

The Contest Question

Geeta wants to know if it’s legal for her parents to act this way. What do you tell her?

Support your answer using the legal rules in the “Legal Information” section and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (the “Convention”).

Happy writing!