Since November 2009, our gymnasium has been a participant in the project “School - Territory of Human Rights” for administrators and teachers of secondary schools, organized by the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union in cooperation with the Norwegian Helsinki Committee with financial support from the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the International Renaissance Foundation.
The first training seminar was held on November 18-22, 2009, and was attended by the principal and teacher of history and law, V. A. Silenko.
11 schools in Ukraine are participants of the project. Although the project is officially over, we continue to work in it independently.
This section of the site was created for all of you. We would like all of us to build a model of a gymnasium where human rights are respected as they are in the most developed countries of the world.
Human rights at school (basic concepts)
Human rights at school (list and explanation: accessible and interesting)
Human rights at school
Only by understanding what human rights are can we create an atmosphere at school that is based on human rights principles.
If we look at it from a human rights perspective, we need to take into account the following aspects:
- Teacher-student relationships
- Principal-teacher relationships
- Teacher-parent relationships
- Student-student relations (how a teacher or administrator can act in case of violence)
- School law: documents, procedures
- Education and training programs (availability of topics related to human rights)
- School grounds and infrastructure (security).
In addition, the right to education is realized at school. The following aspects are important:
- Quality of education
- Equal access to education
- Neutrality of outlook (demonstration of different points of view)
- The same criteria for access to the next stages of education
- Assessment criteria known to participants in the educational process.
Source: Mazhena Rafalska, Poland.
Human rights at school (accessible and interesting)
The subjects taught at school and the organization of school life should also be consistent with basic human rights principles, thereby contributing to a democratic atmosphere for both students and teachers.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child states that school education should provide every child with equal opportunities to develop his or her abilities and talents. The school should help each child to learn to formulate and express personal opinions, to develop a sense of moral and social responsibility, and to help each child to become a useful member of society. The school should teach children to respect human rights, to treat all people and different cultures with equal respect, and to focus on tolerance and mutual understanding in relations between people. What should be a guide for children, how to teach them to understand, accept and respect human rights? These questions are of concern to many educators. Sharing their concern, I bring to your attention material that could be included in the corresponding section of the manual “Me and My Rights” for students of the 5th grade of a secondary school. If you wish, you can continue by creating your own version of the manual.
INTRODUCTION
At school, you meet with teachers and classmates every day. Your communication should also be based on respect for the human rights of each and every one of you. After all, it is so important that school becomes a place where you feel comfortable and cozy, where you have no fear of a teacher or one of the older students, or of an unlearned lesson.
SAFE WAY TO SCHOOL
Is your way to school safe? As we have learned, among schoolchildren, “dangerous” is a road where the stronger ones take money and things from the weaker ones, and threaten and intimidate you to keep quiet. Has this ever happened to you? How can you protect yourself from such violence? How can you prevent such facts from happening?
SPIRITUAL VIOLENCE
If you are attacked and beaten, this is physical violence. And if you are insulted with words or silent injustice, then this is spiritual violence. For example, a situation where an adult shames a child for no apparent reason for his or her inability to do something can be considered spiritual violence. Sometimes your classmates give offensive nicknames to others, not caring at all that they are committing violence and humiliating the dignity of another person. Can you give me specific examples of such spiritual violence? How can we resist it? What can you suggest?
At school, every student has:
- the right to express their opinion on all issues related to the life of the school community
- the right to have their own ideas and beliefs
- the right to freely express their thoughts without offending others
- the right to receive information about oneself
- the right to be protected from violence and abuse
- the right to be different from others
- the right not to tell anything about your family
- The right to be respected and treated with kindness
- The right to rest and free time
- the right to be interested in the work that interests you the most
- The right to join various children's public associations
THINK
School should be a place where students feel safe. And a school can only be safe if everyone realizes that in addition to their rights, they also have responsibilities that should be taken just as seriously. Because rights cannot be realized without fulfilling certain responsibilities.
Read this list again and, based on this list, make another one - a list of responsibilities of a student at school. Did you get more responsibilities than rights or less? Why?
Violence is not only a situation when someone is physically beaten or abused, but also when they ridicule, insult, humiliate, or threaten. Teachers and students are equally responsible for preventing any kind of violence. Any manifestation of violence should be confronted.
THINK
- What could have been different in your school life?
- What rights do you have at school?
- What responsibilities do you have at school?
- Have you experienced injustice at school?
- Who do you think stood up to injustice?
- What lessons did you have on human rights?
- What exactly is observed in your school in terms of human rights?
- Does your knowledge of human rights help you?
RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS
Although children have many rights, they are not allowed to do everything. When using your rights, you cannot act to the detriment of other people or restrict their rights. Rights also entail certain responsibilities. In fact, rights cannot exist without responsibilities, because then the right will not be realized. For example:
Every child has the right to education, but also the obligation to go to school in order for the right to education to be realized.
Every child has the right to health care, but also the duty to take care of their health in order to grow strong and develop.
Every child has the right to express their opinions, but they must take into account the opinions of other people so that the opinions expressed do not harm others.
THINK
- What do you think “medical care” means?
- What should be done to ensure that every child has the right to receive medical care?
- How can you keep yourself healthy?
- Have you ever been sick through your own fault? Why?
- Think about your schoolwork in the same way.
- What are your responsibilities under other laws?
You learn about rights and responsibilities at school. School is a kind of small society that has the same rules as the state as a whole. At school, you should also respect your classmates, and others should also respect your rights and dignity. Evaluate the following cases:
1. Nikolai is the editor of the school newspaper. He quarreled with his friend Yurko and published an offensive article about his studies and behavior in his newspaper. Yurko's parents demanded that the newspaper be banned. Who is responsible for what happened? Re-enact a discussion of this event at a meeting with Nikolai, Yuri, the school principal, the classroom teacher, Yuri's classmates, and Yuri's parents.
2. The boys brought water pistols to school with them and sprayed their classmates. The teachers organized a “raid” in the classroom to take the guns away. Some students voluntarily handed over the guns, while others refused to do so. Those who refused were searched, looking through their pockets and briefcases. Do you think the teachers behaved correctly? How could this problem have been solved differently? Offer your own solution.
Have you ever thought about the fact that life is based on fulfilling certain responsibilities? There are different duties, both pleasant and unpleasant, but they have to be fulfilled. What happens if, for example, a doctor refuses to help a patient for some reason? But he or she is fulfilling his or her duty so that your right to medical care can be realized. There are responsibilities when a person takes responsibility for a matter. Do you sometimes feel that you need to do something yourself, without being reminded or ordered? Can you give examples of this? Have you ever had someone not fulfill their responsibilities towards you? What was the reason for this? Could it have been prevented and how?
TASKS
Take a piece of paper and divide it vertically into two halves. Write down your rights on the left and your responsibilities on the right.
Which list is longer? Did you find it difficult to decide whether an action should be classified as a right or a duty? Why do you think so?
This material was based on the textbook “We, Peace and Human Rights” for the 8th grade of secondary school, published in 1997 by the Tinisson Institute in Estonia.
Kusaykina N., Human Rights Education Center, Kharkiv