Vocabulary

Entitlement is the fact of having a right to something.
Provision is the act of providing or supplying something for use.
Protection is the action of protecting, or the state of being protected.
Participation is the action of taking part in something.
Rights are entitlements that nobody can take away.
Responsibility is an obligation to respect the rights of others.

Purpose - Broad Overview of the Convention

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In keeping with the obligation of dissemination outlined in Article 42 of the Convention, this sub-unit provides children with knowledge of their Provision, Protection, and Provision rights. Its purpose is to raise awareness of the fact that they have rights and to distinguish between wants and needs through a broad introduction to their rights as outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 


Child Asks: What are the provision, protection, and participation rights that every child is entitled to?
Children's Rights Education: Provides a general overview of the Convention's provision, protection, and participation rights.
Child Answers: All children are entitled to the rights in the Convention. 

Classroom Learning Activities

1. Introduction to Rights Presentation (K-12): 
This material is specifically designed to introduce children of all ages to the 15 general rights contained in the Convention. These include the Provision rights: Water, Food, Home, Health, Education, and Play; the Protection rights: Love and Care, Work, Special Needs, and Peace; and the Participation rights: Identity, Expression, Life, and Take Action. This material is available for purchase here.
Material Includes:
  • 15 rights image cards 
  • 15 rights text cards
  • 15 quotes cards
  • 15 individual rights labels
  • 3 general category cards: Provision, Protection, and Participation
  • Large Convention on the Rights of the Child title
Presentation Method:
  • Present image cards to a group of children - ask them to describe what they see
  • Read rights text cards one-at-a-time and children match them up to the image cards
  • Do the same with the quote cards
  • Children label the right and image cards
  • Then they categorize the rights into the 3 category groups
  • Discuss the rationale for their decisions
  • Discuss what responsibilities might come with the rights they are entitled to
2. Children's Rights Circle (K-12): 
Children sit in a circle and discuss what it means to have rights and responsibilities:
  • Define what 'rights' and 'responsibilities' are;
  • Describe some of the rights they have and the responsibilities that go along with those rights;
Discussion questions could include:
  1. How many of you know what it means to have rights?
  2. Do you think you have rights? What rights should children have?
  3. Perhaps you could share with the class some of your ideas of the rights you have.
  4. Do you feel your rights are respected by others, including the adults in your lives? If so, do others show respect for your rights? If not, what are some of the examples you can give about how others do not respect your rights?
  5. Do you think there are certain responsibilities and duties you should have that go along with your rights? (Give a definition of ‘responsibility’ here, such as the one below.)
  6. What are some of these responsibilities which go along with your rights?
  7. Do you think that all children in the world have the same rights?

Relevant Convention Articles

Article 1
For the purposes of the present Convention, a child means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.
Article 2
1. States Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status.
2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child's parents, legal guardians, or family members.
Article 42
States Parties undertake to make the principles and provisions of the Convention widely known, by appropriate and active means, to adults and children alike.
UNICEF Convention on the Rights of the Child by Shannon Gibson and animated by Guy O'Neal.

Online Resources and References

Cape Breton University Children's Rights Centre
UNICEF