Shouldn't children be taught responsibilities instead of rights?
If children develop a genuine respect for rights they will automatically take responsibility in making sure that they don’t compromise either their own or other people’s rights through their behaviour. The emphasis should therefore be placed on the importance of upholding everyone’s rights. The Lift Off activities are designed to show that the relationship between an individual’s rights and other people's rights is not always clear-cut, and that everyone therefore has a responsibility to respect the rights of others.
Won't human rights topics frighten young children?
No, although learning about human rights is sometimes based on the knowledge that bad things happen, providing education on Human Rights gives young people the skills that they need to be able to do something about these negative realities, developing in them the attitude that it is possible for them to act to change situations. Teaching human rights is therefore positive, because young people learn about their own value as human beings and about the importance of human dignity.
What if one of my pupils asks a question that I can't answer?
It is recognised that in teaching human rights, answers are rarely simple. Complex moral questions cannot be answered with a simple yes or no answer. Therefore, raising the question is sometimes more important than finding one 'correct' answer. By introducing complex issues to children and allowing them to think these issues through, we can equip children to deal with them later in life.
Isn't it the government’s responsibility to ensure that people have the opportunity to learn about human rights?
Members of the United Nations have an obligation to promote human rights education in all forms of learning. Individual educators and non-governmental organisations can therefore do a lot to encourage the development of human rights education through their own collaborative efforts in schools and other educational programmes, and also by lobbying and putting pressure on their government to fulfil their obligations in this regard.
Don’t you need to be a lawyer to understand human rights?
Human rights are far too important to be left to lawyers alone! Law is an important part of human rights as it is the means of setting standards and ensuring that they are upheld. But law is only one element of human rights. Human rights are not static, they are a dynamic concept that spans all areas of life including: education, civil activity, political freedom, social needs, economic well-being, cultural pursuits and environmental quality. There is a wide variety of work being carried out on making rights more accessible and usable beyond the legal sector, recognising human rights as an ethos as well as being legally based. One example of this is the human rights education work currently taking place in schools.
Who is responsible for implementing human rights?
Having voluntarily ratified various international conventions, it is the state party who is obliged to live up to the standards they outline. It is states which have ultimate responsibility in protecting, promoting and fulfilling the rights of their population. In reality, agents of the state such as its own civil and public services and local authorities can play a pivotal role in promoting human rights in areas such as education, housing and health. It is to these services that individuals often look to ensure that their rights are respected.
