This paper will explore the balance between children's rights and parental responsibility from a family systems perspective. Children do not grow up in a vacuum; they are part of a biological, psychological and social system. The interaction of the child and parent within this system must include the development of responsibilities by the parent and the child to further the rights of both. Children do have rights, the right to be nurtured and protected, the right to learn boundaries of behavior and to expand their knowledge. In reviewing the text from The Convention on the Rights of the Child, the responsibilities, rights and duties of parents are addressed in several places. The failure of the United States Senate to ratify this treaty seems to question how much intervention by outside authority is needed to protect children. It is true that many children need the protection of outside parties, but where do we find a balance between the rights and responsibilities of parents, children and society?