adminmilestone achievement in the struggle for children. The CRC, which is now international law, contains norms and standards for the protection and advancement of children’s rights and is binding on all 193 member states that have ratified the Convention so far. Zimbabwe ratified it on the September 11, 1990, meaning that as a country, we are bound by the provisions of the Convention.
The CRC, which was later complimented by a regional instrument, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of Children of 1999, was meant to serve as a springboard for further initiatives for more concrete and advanced international and national norms on the rights of children.
The point of the Convention is that it holds society legally accountable for meeting the obligations which give meaning to children’s rights. The CRC marked the end of the age old idea that children are no more than possessions of their guardians without any rights at all.
With the Convention, children are recognised as human beings with human rights, at the same time recognizing them as children who are vulnerable and in need of protection from their guardians and other adults.
The CRC has 41 substantive articles that are meant to cover all kinds of human rights, economic, social, and cultural rights as well as civil and political rights relating to children. Important as this Convention may sound; its norms remain mere pronouncements on paper without practical impacts on society if it is not known by the rights bearers-the children and other stakeholders.
Children’s rights will continue to be violated time and again, sometimes due to mere ignorance of child rights while the Convention grandstands as a landmark achievement because people do not know it. Similarly, children will continue to be abused and violated in silence, sometimes simply because they do not know their rights and what to do in such cases of violations.
There is need for widespread awareness/education of children’s rights to the public. Article 42 of the Convention requires state parties to “undertake to make the principles and provisions of the Convention widely known, by appropriate and active means, to adults and children alike”. The school environment (primary and secondary schools) quickly comes to mind as one such appropriate medium to effectively spread awareness of children’s rights.
Children’s rights education is important for a number of reasons. Firstly, as mentioned above, it is a legal requirement of the CRC that state parties educate their subjects on the children’s rights as pronounced in the Convention and since Zimbabwe has ratified the CRC, we are bound to take steps in that regard.
Secondly and most importantly in my opinion, children’s rights education has the potential for increasing favorable human rights respecting attitudes and behaviors in both children and adults. Research elsewhere has shown a linkage between exposure of children to a children’s rights programme and increased support and sensitivity to the general values of rights, tolerance, non-discrimination, multiculturalism, respect for others and to the general themes of peace and justice. Child rights education among children is empowering in that when children learn about their rights, they become more aware and more supportive of the rights of others.
Research has also shown that children who receive child rights education have broader and more accurate knowledge of their rights to equality, education, health care, protection from abuse and of course where to go for help. Furthermore, child rights education teaches children that they are independent rights bearers; that the government cares about their wellbeing; that there are special laws and international conventions to protect them and to promote their positive development. This is believed to increase children’s optimism about their future and an overall psychological sense of well being in feeing good about themselves.
As mentioned earlier, the school environment stands out as the most convenient and appropriate channel for imparting child rights education. It is the largest catchment where children are found at the same place at the same time for a common purpose to learn. Teaching the rights in the classroom also makes the children’s rights education orderly as they become part of the organised school curriculum. Understanding of the concepts and effectiveness and impact of the programme can also be assessed relatively easily if the rights education is part of a curriculum in a school setting where there are many children from different economic, cultural and social backgrounds and physical abilities.
Implementing children’s rights education in schools will, however, not come without challenges. There are possibilities that teachers may be worried about adding child rights to the curricula since this means an extra burden to already overworked teachers with inadequate resources. Such fears can be alleviated by designing the curricula to fit into and complement the existing school curricula in subjects such as Content for primary school, different subjects at O-level and General Paper at A- level. The curricula need not be complicated but rather the use of simple teaching methods such as art projects, puzzles, role playing exercises, mock trials, discussion topics and case studies of rights violations and abuses that children find interesting.
The other concern relates to traditional ideas that knowledge by children of their rights might undermine adult authority in the classroom and home thereby intensifying conflicts between adults and children. Many are afraid that children may start making radical demands for rights while denying responsibilities. Though this may sound true, such fears are usually caused by misinterpretation and misinformation about children’s rights among the adult population. To allay such fears, there will be need to first raise awareness and prepare parents and teachers themselves about the principles of both the CRC and the ACRWC before the rights education curricula is introduced in schools. This could be done in meetings on how the Conventions are useful to the welfare, development and protection of children as well as in creating a next generation of rights respecting citizens.
As a rights respecting nation, it is time that we give serious thought to raising awareness about children’s rights as a way of empowering our children. Child rights education may be the difference between your child being sexually abused in silence or the knowledge that they should call or seek for help if they are made to feel uncomfortable or afraid; that they should tell others if someone has tried to harm them; and that not all people that try to hurt children are easily recognized by their appearance.
Knowledge is power and indeed child rights knowledge may be the foundation for powerful human rights attitudes and behaviors for the next generation.
Blessing Mushohwe is an independent Child Rights Research & Programme Management Consultant. email: [email protected]
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