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Your Civil Rights in School

Civil rights are human rights which have been built into a country's legal and political system. In democratic countries most adults take their civil rights for granted, but in many countries adults have to struggle to get their human and civil rights respected. And in most countries, the idea of children in schools having civil rights is new and challenging for adults.

These rights are based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), 1989. This is the convention agreed by all countries on what every child and young person under 18 has a right to in order to survive, develop, be safe, and take part in society. It became part of the law in this country in 1992.

The main kinds of rights are: rights to basic things you need, such as a home, food, places to play and learn; rights to be kept safe from harm; rights to share in deciding about how you live your life. These apply to all children, all the time, everywhere 'including at school.

So, while you are at school, you have these rights:

You have the right

to be respected for your worth and dignity
to express yourself
to develop your skills and talents fully

You have the right

to be heard
to have your views taken seriously in matters that affect you
to share in making decisions about your life

You have the right

to hold your own beliefs
to have all kinds of useful information and ideas
to freedom of thought, conscience and religion
to learn to live in peace, tolerance and equality
to learn to live with respect for nature

You have the right

to your own friendships
to go to peaceful meetings
to privacy and respect
to fair discipline

You have the right

to be kept safe from harm

You have the right

to share these rights with others in your school
to work together with others for these rights

Thanks to:

Priscilla Alderson & Sean Arnold
Social Science Research Unit
Institute of Education, University of London

Their research, between 1996 and 1999, involved questionnaires for 3,000 pupils in 100 schools, and detailed work with 20 of these schools. The results showed that most children and young people from 8 to 16 years old:

were not getting practical teaching in rights and democracy
were interested in understanding their rights
cared about being heard and recognised as responsible people
knew instantly when these rights were not being respected
wanted to be asked to contribute to their school community.

Now the survey is being used by other schools around the world to help pupils and teachers know more about rights in schools.
Phone Francis Gobey 01452 544998 for more details

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Friends of GYM

Are you interested in what GYM gets up to but don't want to come to every meeting?

Become a friend of GYM by sending us an email saying hello and telling us a bit about yourself (contact details would be useful!).

We then promise to send you our newsletter and keep you up to date with all our projects and then you can take part when it suits you.

If you are interested, or have any ideas for our events - let us know or pop along to a meeting!

gym@gloucester.gov.uk