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Activity 1: Rights and Wants
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Subject: Civics and Citizenship, SOSE, History, Geography
Level: Upper primary/ lower and upper secondary
Time needed: 40 minutes - 1 hour
Resources:
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Convention on the Rights of the Child (Child friendly version) available at http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/humanrights/resources/plainchild.asp
Aim: To introduce students to the language of human
rights
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Provide students with picture cards from Worksheet 1. Ask students to brainstorm which human rights could be associated with the pictures (eg. right to vote, right to education). Make a list of rights on the whiteboard (they may think of others).
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Each student independently selects the FIVE rights that are the most important to him/her and explains why to their partner. Each pair then works together to complete a list of their shared TOP THREE rights.
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Each pair then shares their list with the class, and these lists are recorded on the board. From this, construct a top three list for the class. (This could be done as a tallying exercise).
Discussion questions:
- Was it difficult to choose some rights over others?
- How did you decide which rights were more important than others?
- How much difference/ similarity is there between student choices?
- What are some reasons for those differences?
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Provide students with Worksheet 2. Students work in pairs to discuss the statements on Worksheet 2 and decide whether each statement is a RIGHT or a WANT. The goal is to encourage students to give their immediate responses to the statements as there are not necessarily always right or wrong answers.
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After completing this list, students share their answers with the class and explain why they think each statement is either a RIGHT or a WANT.
Note: Most of the statements could be argued to be a right by law, except where the student has breached those rights. New clothes, our own bedroom and the choice of going to school are wants however, and as such would depend on consultation with parents/ guardians. Students should be encouraged to review the child friendly version of the CRC to determine how the rights could be linked.
Extension
Students decide who is responsible for protecting each of the rights (eg. themselves, their parents, their teachers, or government). Students could then either brainstorm or research ideas about what other RIGHTS children have (depending on course requirements).
Research
A research task is suggested on the worksheet. Possible
questions for discussion (before or after research activity) could
include:
- Do all children have their rights met?
- Which children might not have their rights protected?
Why/ Why not?
Worksheet 1: Human Rights Images
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The following images are a visual representation of various human rights. Some images may be associated with more than one right. Key rights that may be associated with images are equality, right to vote, nationality, identity, freedom from persecution, labour rights (freedom of association), freedom of speech, leisure, participation, education, shelter.
Pictures cards can be copied for educational purposes and cut as cards for distribution.
For further information on copyright permission and procedures refer to www.humanrights.gov.au/site/copyright/index.html
Photo images by Amanda Lim, 2003 Human Rights Photography Competition
Cartoon images
from Shutterstock Photos http://www.shutterstock.com
Drawings
by Adam Hill
Worksheet 1a: Human Rights Images
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Worksheet 1b: Human Rights Images
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Worksheet 1c: Human Rights Images
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Worksheet 2: Rights and Wants
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- Work in small groups to assess the following statements.
- Decide whether each statement is a RIGHT or a WANT of children and young people and place a tick in the appropriate
box.
| Statement |
Right |
Want |
|---|---|---|
I have a right to a good education |
||
I have a right to vote in government
elections |
||
I have a right to rest and play |
||
I have a right to health care |
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I have a right to new clothes |
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I have a right to be cared for by my
parents |
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I have a right to my own bedroom |
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I have a right to speak my own
language |
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I have a right to be safe in the place where I
live |
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I have a right to have my views taken seriously by
adults |
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I have a right to choose whether or not I go to
school |
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I have a right to choose my own friends and the
groups I belong to |
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I have a right to special care if my parents
can’t look after me |
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I have a right to enter the
supermarket |
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I have a right to legal help so my rights can be
protected |
- Share your answers with the class and explain why you
think each statement is either a RIGHT or a WANT.
Extension
Write down next to each statement the people that are responsible for protecting each of the rights. For example; is it you, your parents, your teacher, the police or perhaps the government?
Research
Do all children have the same rights? Research the lives
of other children in Australia and other countries. Find out:
- what they do during the day
- when/ where they go to school
- who they live with
Compare your findings with others in your
class.