The rights of children in schools

Abstract

The need to protect the rights of children has been recognised in documents such as the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Several disagreements have, however, surrounded arguments about children's rights. In this context, the first part of this work was devoted to a discussion of young people's rights. This was followed by a discussion of children's rights within the educational framework. The best interests of children are often taken to be what adults regard to be important for the well-being of children. The research conducted in this study, however, has tried to identify what children believe to be important for their well-being and best interests. Research was carried out with Year 6 children attending different State schools, to examine the kind of awareness that children at primary level have about some of the rights mentioned in the UN Convention and to identify the kind of importance children accord to such rights within the school environment. After taking cognition of the general awareness that children have about such rights, the following step was to find ways of promoting further, children's awareness of rights. In the light of what has been discussed, the final part of the study was designed to provide further consciousness and recognition of children's rights.