24 Unit 1 Children and Families in Today’s World Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. safe environments. They need homes, schools, and other places where they can develop to their full potential (Figure 1.12). All children should have the chance to grow in an environment that promotes their health and well-being. By studying children, you will learn how to provide these safe places. Protect Children’s Rights People live in a child-centered society—a society that sees children as important, cares about their well-being, and works to meet their needs. Some children also experience, however, a great deal of harm through abuse and neglect. Children need Children are easily hurt because they are physically weaker than adults and cannot reason as adults. Society must protect them. By learning about children, lawmakers can pass laws that will keep children safe. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations International Children’s Education Fund) wrote 54 articles that set out the rights of every child in the world. These rights can be given under 11 major categories. The following categories explain children’s rights to: • an identity (government should protect children’s names, family ties, and nationalities) • a family (children should be able to live with their parents unless this is not in the children’s best interest parents have the responsibility for raising children with government support) • express themselves and have access to information (children have the right to express their views have freedom of thought, conscience, and religion and obtain information) • a safe and healthy life (children have the right to life the government should do all it can to make sure children survive and develop children should have access to medical services and a decent standard of living) • special protection in times of war (children who are refugees are entitled to special protection children who are under 15 should not take part in armed conflict) • an education (primary education should be free and required of all children secondary Children’s Rights Discussion Activity education should be accessible to all children) • special care for the disabled (children with disabilities have the right to special care, education, and training) • protection from discrimination (all rights apply to all children children have the right to practice their own cultures, religions, and languages) • protection from abuse (children shall be protected against abuse and neglect government shall be involved with laws and programs concerned with abuse) • protection from harmful work (children have the right to rest, leisure, play, and participation in cultural and artistic activities children have the right to be protected from having to participate in work that threatens their health, education, and development) • special treatment if arrested (children are entitled to assistance and treatment that respect their rights) In small groups, list children’s rights on the left side of a piece of paper. Then, brainstorm at least three practical situations in which each right can be applied. Use examples from everyday life and historical examples where needed. Choose one situation for each right and then share your group’s examples with the rest of the class.