Know Your Rights

What is a Right?

Do you know what a right is? After exploring rights at their school, a class of 4-year-old children at Boulder Journey School in Colorado set out to create their own definition of a right. Working together as a group, they shared their definition of a right. They determined that:

"But only if it's okay, like you won't hurt somebody and it's safe... because the other person has a right to not be hurt too, right?"

"A right is like you know in your heart it's okay to do it... you can do it if you want and that's it."

Who has Rights?

Everyone has rights! All human beings are born free and equal. It does not matter where you come from, what language you speak, or what you look like.

The United Nations, or UN, is a big group made up of almost every country in the world. They meet together and make decisions to keep the world safe and healthy for everybody.

In 1948, the UN shared the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration holds 30 different statements on the fundamental rights of every human being. These statements are called articles. The articles address our right to life, liberty, security, education, medical care, and safety.

There are also articles about the freedoms each person has. Freedom means you have the right to choose what you want and what makes you happy, as long as it does not hurt someone else or stop them from exercising their own rights.

Everyone has the freedom to think, feel, believe, love, follow, move, and gather with other people however they choose.

We are all responsible for the choices we make when we exercise freedom. When our freedom allows us to do or say something, it is important to think about how our actions might affect others. We can exercise our rights while also respecting the rights of others.

Why Do Children Have Different Rights?

Parents, teachers, researchers, and leaders from around the world have recognized that children are very different from adults. Childhood is a special time in each person's life, full of wonder, joy, exploration, discovery, friendship, learning, and growth.

As a child, there are going to be times when you need adults to help or guide you. That does not mean you do not have the right to try something on your own. It does mean that you have the right to the help and care you need, whenever you need it.

What Are Child Rights?

The United Nations believes that every child has the right to feel safe, loved, and cared for. Children have a right to get things they need, like clean water, healthy foods, clothes, a home, and access to school and doctors. So, in 1989, they created the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This is an international agreement, called a treaty, that has been signed by 140 countries that have promised to protect children and their rights.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child has 54 articles! That is 54 statements about your rights, and the responsibility of government and leaders to protect those rights.

What Do Children Have the Right to Do?

The same class of 4-year-old children at Boulder Journey School that determined what a right is, took their learning a step further! With the help of their teachers, the class created their own list of things they have a right to do.

Watch this video to hear what the students at Boulder Journey School know about their rights as children.

Then take a look at some of the rights they shared in the next section.

Check out this poster on the Convention of the Rights of the Child. Click on the photo to view each article in more detail.

Children have the right to...

• Have fun

• Pretend everything

• Grow taller

• Hang upside-down when it is safe

• Play all day

• Have friends

• Not be called names

• Call themselves names to be silly

• Take off their clothes in privacy

• Run or walk, to choose which one, if it is safe

• Pretend being dead and think about what it means to be dead

• Read books when they are crying, so they do not have to talk about it right away

• Climb, ski, and play on the mountains, because they are there for all of us to use

• Clean air

• Clean water that is cold, warm, and hot

• Clean, fresh food to eat when they are hungry

• Say "No!" to dirty food

• Get their own silverware

• Plant flowers and plants with other people

• Eat brownies and make brownies

• Love and be loved

• Hugs and kisses

• Good stuff that makes them happy

• Never got to jail

• Guess how things work

• Make ideas with other people

Children have the right to...

• Play with Mom and Dad (after they are busy)

• Have their words heard by other people

• Play tea party, even with real tea

• Solve their own problems whenever they can

• Sleep when they are tired

• Just rest when they are not tired

• Play and do other silly things with their food, if they can still eat it too

• Touch everything gently, but not birds, because that can scare them

• Help other people and even birds with broken wings

• Be safe from fires and have firefighters help them if there is a fire

• Paint their fingernails with an adult who is good at it (both boys and girls)

• Color with paint or markers, and to choose which one

Children have the right to...

• Wrestle or play fight, but not a right to punch

• Say "No!" to mouth kisses

• Be listened to

• Tell parents or teachers to help them if they have a big problem

• Walk away from people who are bothering them and say, "You are bothering me!" real loud, then they have a duty to tell a parent, teacher, or police officer about it

• Say "No!" or "Stop it!" when people are tickling them without asking

• Twist their own ears, but not a right to twist other people's ears: a child must ask the other person first

• Know what time it is and how many minutes they have to wait for something

Children have the right to...

Children have the right to...

• Brush their own teeth, and parents have a right to check their teeth when the children are done brushing

• Have their hair look like they want, but not a right to cut it unless they ask first

• Choose their own clothes, and parents have a right to buy clothes for children if they want, but parents do not have a right to steal clothes

• Talk, as long as they do not interrupt someone else who is talking first

Let's Think About It!

Now that you know about your rights, take some time to pause and think about what you learned. Here are some questions you can explore:

• Did you agree with the rights shared by the children at Boulder Journey School? Is there anything you would have added to their list?

• Can you think of a time or situation where you wanted to do something on your own but needed to ask an adult for help to do it safely?

• How do you feel when someone stops you from doing something you have the right to do?

• Why do rights only work if everyone has them?

• Why is it important for children to know their rights?

Did You Notice?

Did you notice how their list of rights included things that children do not have the right to do? That is because we have to consider other people's rights when we exercise our own. Everyone has a right to safety, which means that no one has the right to hurt anyone.

Check out this poster to explore how everyone's rights work together.

Created using information from The United Nations, UNICEF, and the Boulder Journey School Charter on Children's Rights. A complete list of references can be found under the " About " tab.