Children are the future custodians of sovereignty, rule of law, – justice, liberty, equality, fraternity and finally international peace and security. They are the potential embodiment of our ideals, aspirations, ambitions, and future hopes. They are the ‘future shoulders’ in the form of great philosophers, rulers, scientists, politicians, able legislators, administrators, teachers, judges, technologists, industrialists, engineers, workers, and planners on which the country would rest.
Over one-third of India’s children’s population are exploited, abused, and discriminated against. These children include child labourers, children affected by armed conflicts, sexually exploited children, children in conflict with the law or the care of the state, as well as children living on the streets, coping with disabilities, or suffering from discrimination because of their religious or ethnic-minority status.
Children being more knowledgeable about their Rights from a young age would prevent power abuse over children. Children who aren’t educated on their rights could be taken advantage of by adults who could make them oblivious of their rights. This could potentially be reduced drastically if children were aware that what the adult is doing is against their rights to be protected. According to Article 34-36 which states that children have the right to be freed from sexual abuse, no one is allowed to kidnap you or sell you and children have the right to protection from any exploitation.
Ironically Article 42 also states that adults should teach children their Rights as well however, in many cases, they are doing the complete opposite. By not educating children they become more vulnerable to these situations and become easy victims to perpetrators. Adults who are role models for children should be doing their part by educating children instead of taking advantage of the unawareness of their Rights by abusing them. Governments should make sure that everyone, including children and their teachers, learns about children’s rights. But, What is happening is Schools do not teach children about their rights and how to act on them. Many teachers do not know what is children’s right and they don’t get any training to educate kids.
Child rights education should be understood in a broad sense, far beyond the subject of a lesson plan. It entails teaching and learning about the provisions and principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) as well as the ‘child rights approach to help empower both children and adults to take action and put children’s rights into practice in their day-to-day lives – at home, at school, in the community and, more broadly, at the national and global levels.
Child rights education is learning about rights, learning through rights (using rights as an organizing principle to transform the culture of learning) and learning for rights (taking action to realize rights). Child rights education promotes the vision articulated in the CRC Preamble that “the child should be fully prepared to live an individual life in society, and brought up in the spirit of the ideals proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, and in particular in the spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality and solidarity”. Child rights education is seen as an essential tool for changing how children’s rights are perceived and applied in society. It aims to build the capacity of rights-holders, especially children, to claim their rights and the capacity of duty-bearers to fulfil their obligations. It helps adults and children work together, providing the space and encouragement for meaningful participation and sustained civic engagement
Here are some of the reasons why children’s rights education is important to children and it should be added to the school curriculum:
Because it’s their right! (Article 42)
To increase respect for human rights
Because children’s rights values are universally recognized
To encourage the development of self-esteem and active participation
To reinforce positive behaviours
Benefits for children Research has identified three basic benefits of CRE for children: they become informed of their rights and the nature of the rights; they develop the attitudes and values underpinning democracy and global citizenship, and they become empowered to take positive action to protect the rights of others.45 CRE facilitates children’s participation in their near environments (school and community) where their opinions and decisions can be properly acknowledged and taken into account. CRE also assists children to understand the national and global environments and provides them with the knowledge and skills to act at a broader level.
How is it that in the 21st century children are still not fully aware of their Rights which protect them and make sure that they are equal citizens even as children?
Article 28 states that as children we have the right to proper education and to be encouraged to reach the highest level of education, therefore why shouldn’t education also include teaching us about our Rights. We are taught many different courses that are important to succeed in life, but how about how important our Charter of Rights is to future generations? Our Rights are just as important as any other classes because without our knowledge of our Rights this can have a much more negative impact on our future compared to remembering the mathematical tables. The school system should take into account the positive impact that knowing this would have and how it would be just as beneficial as any other course.
In a complex country such as India, violations of human rights at all levels necessitate children’s rights education at all school levels in general and teacher education in particular. Hence, children’s rights education should find its rightful place in the school curriculum, teacher training courses-pre-and in-service, textbooks, supplementary reading materials, educational policies, and school administration. Children’s rights education must exert its influence from early childhood education onward and through a broad range of disciplines to build a human rights culture. Hence, greater commitment from all sectors and preparation of a sound, realistic plan of action can help in achieving children’s rights education for all and transform the children’s rights movement into a mass movement to achieve a better social order and peaceful coexistence.
We are children today and the future tomorrow. It is our time to learn and realise our Rights and to apply them to create change for our future.