As suggested by the UN in their Convention on the Rights of a Child, there are many basic rights all children should have and be aware of. Unfortunately, not all children around the world experience these rights, nevertheless, it is important that we continue working globally to ensure that children do have these rights. As teachers especially, it is important that we are aware of these rights, not only so we can treat children in a way that upholds these rights, but also so that we can help educate children on their rights.
A great way to help familiarize children with their rights, is by exploring them together as a class, and asking children to consider which rights they feel are most important, and what should be added. Below I have exemplified this.
Link to above Poster Here
1. Which articles do you believe are the most important and why?
My Response:
Ultimately, I feel that every article on this document is highly relevant and so important in guiding the way we as adults treat and interact with children. Having said that, I have identified 3 articles that really stand out to me in this document, especially as an educator.
Articles 1&2 – I think these are vitally important to this document as they set the tone for all of the other rights. These articles make it explicitly clear that EVERY child should have these rights, regardless of their personal circumstances. If we as citizens of the world do not recognize and abide by those two articles, the rest of this document basically become irrelevant.
Article 42 – Having these rights and stating them seems a bit pointless if we miss the fact that every child has the right to know their rights. We as adults have a responsibility to help children know their rights and seek opportunities to ensure that they have those rights. If we fail to do this, we are turning a blind eye to the fact that children do in fact have rights and should have opportunities to live in a way that reflects that.
2. What should be added to this document?
My Response:
In regards to article 2, the phrasing “boy or girl” should be reconsidered as it is not inclusive to all children.
Article 14, suggests that parent can largely direct their child’s choices, which to some degree limits the freedom of choice on the child’s part. The article itself I agree with, but the language could use some minor tweaking.
Article 18 – Again, I agree with the content of this article, however the wording seems to suggest that in every case where it is possible a child should stay with their parents. This wording may be confusing to some children who are in family situations that do not align with this statement. Although this thought is elaborated on in later articles, as it is on its own, it is not entirely clear.
In general, I think it would be helpful if articles were grouped by category so that all relevant articles on a given topic were listed one after another. That may make the document more easily understandable for children.
Note on Implementation of these rights:
Just because the UN puts out a document like this, they are not a governing body, thus they cannot entirely mandate these rights. Nevertheless, they do have some sway in where and to whom they provide funding. More importantly, the UN also helps to set ideals that can act to shift thinking on a global scale!
Below are links to some more comprehensive units I have made that relate to the rights of a child:
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