Rights Respecting Schools
What is a Rights Respecting School?
There are four key areas of impact for children at a Rights Respecting school; wellbeing, participation, relationships and self-esteem.
The difference that a Rights Respecting School makes goes beyond the school gates, making a positive impact on the whole community.
Children are healthier and happier
By promoting the values of respect, dignity and non-discrimination, children’s self-esteem and wellbeing is boosted and they are less likely to suffer from stress. A child who understands their rights understands how they and others should be treated and their sense of self-worth is strengthened.
Children feel safe
The Rights Respecting Schools Award gives children a powerful language to use to express themselves and to challenge the way they are treated. They are also able to challenge injustices for other children. Children and young people are empowered to access information that enables them to make informed decisions about their learning, health and wellbeing.
Children have better relationships
Both with their teachers and their peers, based on mutual respect and the value of everyone’s opinion; in a Rights Respecting school children are treated as equals by their fellow pupils and by the adults in the school. Children and young people are involved in how the award is implemented in the school and are also involved in: strategic decision-making; in decisions about their learning and in views about their well-being.
Children become active and involved in school life and the wider world.
This builds their confidence to make informed decisions. They have a moral framework, based on equality and respect for all that lasts a lifetime, as they grow into engaged, responsible members of society. Children and adults develop an ethos and language of rights and respect around the school.
Rights and principles of the Convention are used to put moral situations into perspective and consider rights-respecting solutions – this all has a huge impact on relationships and well-being. Children and young people get very involved in raising awareness about social justice issues, both at home and abroad. They become ambassadors for rights and take part in campaigns and activities to help to bring about change.
The :
In 1989, governments across the world adopted the UNCRC, recognising that all children have the right to be treated with dignity and fairness, to be protected, to develop to their full potential and to participate. The Convention sets out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that everyone under 18 is entitled to.
Every child has rights, whatever their ethnicity, gender, religion, language, abilities or any other status.
The Convention must be seen as a whole: all rights are linked and no right is more important than another. The right to relax and play (Article 31) and the right to freedom of expression (Article 13) have equal importance as the right to be safe from violence (Article 19) and the right to education (Article 28)
For more information on the UNCRC please click on the link below.
