Part Three:
Younger Children
This part contains:
Starting up - introductory activities
You and me - activities about diversity
Who, me? - activities about responsibility
Rights for Life - activities about the universality of rights
What's fair? - activities about justice
My rights / Your rights - activities about situations where rights conflict
Action! - taking human rights beyond the classroom
" I don't teach my class their rights and responsibilities - they teach me! "
Moldovan teacher
Guide to the activities:
To make them easier to use, the activities in this part of the manual all have the same format.
| Title |
| Aim: |
This, and the brief introduction to each group of activities, tells you why they are useful. |
| Learning points: |
These are the key concepts contained in the activity. Keep them in mind as you do it. |
| What you need: |
This tells you what equipment you will need and what to prepare before the lesson. |
| Time: |
The times shown are estimates of how long it will take to do the activity and any discussion component. |
| How to do it: |
This part explains the activity step-by-step. Where specific methods are used, these are explained in the Part Two of this manual. |
| Questions: |
Most of the activities use open questions and discussion to help students to think about the issues raised by the activity. Advice on using open questions and discussion is available in Part Two of this manual. |
| Choices: |
These are suggestions for further work on an issue. Some activities have ideas for adapting them for another age group. Others have ideas for human rights actions. |
Information / Examples / Gamecards:
Some activities have additional parts. To avoid missing anything, read the whole activity through before attempting it, and check that you have found all the items listed under "What you need".
Because several of the activities in this part of the manual refer to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, here is an activity "Treasure Hunt" to help familiarize your class with them. The "Quick Quiz" activity can be used to test children's' knowledge about rights.
These activities are continued for older children on page 96.
Quick Quiz
(Based on an activity by David Shiman)
Aim: This quiz is useful at any stage of teaching human rights. If the children have not studied human rights before, it is a way to find out how much they already know. It can then be used to check on how their knowledge grows over time. It is also very useful for finding out what special interests and concerns children have about human rights.
Learning Points:
- We already know a lot about human rights.
- Sometimes, there are no correct answers when we discuss rights
What you need: Quiz questions.
Time: One hour
How to do it:
Before the lesson, write the questions up on paper or the blackboard, or when the students arrive, read out the questions and ask the children to copy them down, without answering them.
Now, ask the children to move around the room for ten minutes, asking a different person for the answer to each of the questions. The person who answers a question should sign their answer. In this way, the children share what they know already about human rights. Alternatively, ask children to answer the questions on their own.
Go through the questions, asking children for their answers. Write them on the wall. There might be many answers for one question. Encourage the children to discuss their answers as you write them down (the advice on asking questions from page 29 might be useful here).
The children will probably not be able to answer all of the questions. Also, their answers might be inaccurate. For example, they might not know that torture also happens in Western democracies. Remember that the purpose of the quiz is to raise human rights issues, not to get "correct" answers.
Questions which raise particularly interesting issues can form the basis of future discussions. For help with discussions about rights, see page 28.
If there is not much time, select a few questions instead, concentrating on those which are most relevant to the children.
Quiz questions:
Can you think of?.....
A human right?
A country where human rights are violated?
A document which proclaims human rights?
A group which was persecuted in the past?
A country where people are denied rights because of their race?
A country where people are denied rights because of their religion?
A country where rights of different groups are in conflict?
An organization which fights for human rights?
A film or a book about rights?
A country where people are tortured?
A country where the human rights situation has improved?
A country where people are denied the right to emigrate?
A right denied to you in school?
An individual who fights for human rights?
A right sometimes denied to women?
A right all children should have?
People who are denied the right to establish their own nation?
A human right denied to some people in your country?
A right your parents have which you don"t?
A right of yours that has never been violated?
A violation of human rights that personally concerns you?
Choices:
If you have a photocopier, draw a grid on a piece of paper, write a question in each box, and make a copy of the paper for each child.
As a project (see page 30) older students could select one of the questions and research it in depth, making a report of their findings to the class.
As an action, children could ask visitors these questions at a school open day.
Treasure Hunt
Aim: This hide-and-seek activity is a quick way to introduce the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is a helpful activity to use when the class first start learning about human rights. It can also be used to introduce the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Learning Points:
- Human rights are valuable
- They are written down in special documents
What you need: Convention on the Rights of the Child from Part Five of this manual. (If the children are quite young, it is better to use the Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child - see page 171).
Time: Up to half an hour
How to do it:
Either write some articles from the Convention on the Rights of the Child on pieces of paper, or photocopy it and cut it up.
Before the children arrive, hide each article in a different place in the room.
When the children arrive, explain that there is something very valuable hidden on pieces of paper around the room. Ask the children to look for the articles. When an article is found, ask the finder to read it out, and to explain it in simple language, or give an example when the article might be relevant. For example, Article Seven:
" The right from birth to a name , to acquire a nationality and to know and be cared for by his or her parents"
When would this article be relevant?
Ask the finder of each article to keep the piece of paper. That is now "their" article. Later, when the class moves on to other human rights activities, the teacher can then ask students to help when "their" article comes up. Over time, students might be able to develop expert knowledge about the problems and issues surrounding "their" article.
Choices:
If you are using the full Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Summary of Rights from page 171 can be used by the teacher to explain any articles which students are unable to explain.
As a project (see page 30) children could create a play, poem , poster or painting explaining "their" one right.
As an action, children could share the products of this project work with the school, with parents and with the rest of the community. For example, at a school concert on Human Rights Day (see page 92)
These activities are about diversity - similarities and differences between people. They are designed to show that we are all different, yet all equal. Some of the activities focus on why differences are good and important for us as individuals with our own identities. Other activities draw attention to the similarities that all human beings share - for example, our love of stories, or music. Some activities are about living together as a caring community. These are all basic principles on which formal human rights standards, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, are based.
These activities are continued for older children on page 102.
This is Me
Aim: Children reinforce their identity and raise their self-esteem through an art activity. The questions encourage them to think positively about differences between people.
Learning points:
- We are all different but we share many similarities.
- Rights are based on the similar needs of different people.
What you need: Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see page 171). Sheet of paper for each child. Pens, crayons or paints.
Time: One hour
How to do it:
Write each child's name on a sheet of paper, or ask them to do this themselves.
Ask them to decorate their name using crayons. They can colour the name and draw some of their favourite things around it, such as toys, places, food and so on.
Sitting in a circle, ask each child to show their name and explain their favourite things.
Ask the questions listed below as a way to the develop children"s awareness of their similarities and differences.
Display all the work in the school with a title such as "This is Us".
Questions:
What did you learn about other people?
Did you learn anything about yourself?
How did it feel to see your name displayed?
Were our favourite things the same or different?
What would it be like if we were all the same?
Choices:
The class can look at the Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child on page 171). Which rights mention children's similarities? Which rights mention children's differences?
If the group is too big, or the children are too small to concentrate for long, ask them to talk to another child about their work. After a few minutes, each pair can show their work to another pair.
Older children or adults can sit opposite each other in pairs and draw each other. Ask them to talk to each other, finding out about the other person's interests, history, dreams, family, work, etc. and drawing these things around their portrait of the other person.
For another adaptation, ask the class to move around the room while music plays. When the music stops, they must find a partner, and ask each other any question. For example, what is your favourite colour or food? Do you have any brothers or sisters? Where would you like to travel? Restart the music and repeat process until all children have exchanged their opinions. At the end, ask questions similar to those listed above.
As a project (see page 30) children could do this activity with their family and adult friends, explaining the learning points themselves. The results of this project could be displayed either in or out of the school.
Look at me!
Aim: A variation on "This is me", this activity builds on the ideas for drawing activities on page 32. It increases children's self-esteem, which makes them more likely to be tolerant of others and respect others' rights. The activity also introduces ideas about how children can make their classroom a happier place through their own actions.
Learning point:
- "Do to others as you would have them do to you."
What you need: Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see page 171), flipcharts, pens, crayons or paints.
Time: One hour
How to do it:
Divide the children into pairs.
One child lies flat on a long sheet of paper.
The other child draws around the child on the paper. (This is also a great opportunity for language development about the parts of the body!)
The child lies on the floor next to their outline. The other child can add details to the outline. For example, details of the face, colour of hair, clothing, and so on.
If children are in groups of more than two children, they can work on different parts of the drawing to complete the portrait.
Each child can then present the picture of their partner, explaining what he/she discovered about this person.
Ask the questions listed below.
The children can take their portraits home and place them in their bedrooms.
Questions:
The class can look at the Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see page 171). How would people need to help each other to achieve these rights? (For example, by caring about her friends/family...).
How did it feel to be drawn?
How did it feel to be drawing?
Everyone needs to be cared for by someone - this is a right we all have. What happens when people don't get enough attention? (Children could write a story about a time when they felt lonely)
If you moved to a new school, how would you want people to treat you?
Can we think of any ways to make sure that no-one in our class is lonely?
Choices:
The whole class could also draw one child, if you think this would be useful. For example, to make a "different" child feel part of the class community.
The child can choose to be drawn as something they would like to be (a footballer, a dancer, a clown...)
If a child is joining or leaving the class, this activity can be used to make them feel part of the community. (A child who is leaving could have all the things they will need in their new life added to the picture: love, friends, sun, smiles)
Hands up!
Aim: This funny game helps children to develop feelings of community and to recognize that difference is necessary.
Learning point:
- Differences are useful and necessary.
What you need: Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see page 171). One blindfold.
Time: Half an hour
How to do it:
Ask the children to stand in a circle. Ask for a volunteer to be blindfolded.
Turn the volunteer around a few times then lead them to another child. By touching the hair, face and clothes the volunteer has to guess who the other child is.
Try to ignore children's usual friendship groups for this activity.
Continue until all children have had a go.
Now ask the questions listed below as a way to the develop children's awareness of their similarities and differences.
Questions:
Why did we do that?
How did you know who it was?
What if someone had a different skin colour or different coloured eyes?
~ What if everyone had the same nose, hair, ears?
Choices:
The class can look at the Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see page 171) and discuss the question "Why do we need the same rights when we are so different?"
~ This activity can also be used for teaching about disability by showing the children how it might feel to be blind.
As a project (see page 30) children can "experiment" with other forms of disability and make a book recording how they felt and how they would want to be treated if they were a person with a disability.
~ As a variation, use different objects, foods or smells to show how appearances can be deceptive.
Children from around the World
Aim: This activity with pictures helps children to explore the similarities amongst the children of the world regardless of nationality, gender or ethnic group.
Learning points:
- We are all different but we share many similarities.
- Rights are based on the similar needs of different people.
What you need:- Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child on page 171.
- Photos of children from your local area and around the world. Choose pictures which show as many different sorts of food, climate, physical types and ways of life as possible. These can be cut from newspapers and magazines.
Time: One hour
How to do it:
Share out the picture collection.
~ Ask the children to help you to group the photos by obvious attributes. For example, boys and girls, hair colour, older or younger and so on. Try a mixture of attributes which mix up the pictures from around the world. For example, group together children who are talking, or playing, or who are older or younger than the class.
Ask the questions listed below as a way to the develop children"s awareness of the similarities between the children in the pictures.
Questions:
~ What was the same about the children in the pictures?
What was different?
~ Were there any things in the pictures that you didn't recognize?
What do you think children the children in the pictures wouldn"t recognize if they came here?
~ How would you want to be treated if you had to go to their school? Why?
Imagine that some children from the pictures are coming to visit your school. What would you say to children in other classes about how to treat the visiting children?
Choices:
~ Children could write a letter to one of the children in the pictures, telling them about your school.
As a project (see page 30) it may be possible for your class to get pen-friends from abroad or from another part of your country.
~ As an action, children could write and perform a drama about someone who moves to a new school far away and who is treated kindly and unkindly by different students at their new school.
Games from around the World
Aim: This activity with games helps children to explore the similarities amongst the children of the world regardless of nationality, gender or ethnic group. It also introduces children to the idea that they have inherent rights, including the right to play, which are written down in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Learning points:
- We are all different but we share many similarities.
- Rights are based on the similar needs of different people.
What you need: Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see page 171). The example games on the next page, and also the Convention on the Rights of the Child from page 166.
Time: About an hour and a half
How to do it:
Explain that children all over the world play different, but very interesting games.
~ Introduce games from different countries (if you have a globe or an atlas show them where those countries are). Play the games. There are some ideas given on the next page.
Ask the children which game of theirs they would recommend to children all over the world. Play that game.
~ If some children belong to an ethnic group, ask if they know some games from their own culture which you can play. (But if they don't want to, don't force them.)
Ask the questions listed below as a way to the develop children"s awareness of the similarities between children all over the world.
Questions:
~ Did you enjoy one game more than the others? Why? What makes a good game?
Would the new games become more fun if you were used to them?
~ All children have the right to play. This right is written down in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Why do you think play is specially mentioned in this document ?
Would it be possible for you to teach children from another country your games, even if they didn"t speak your language? How?
Choices:
~ This activity can also be done using songs from around the world, or from different parts of your country.
As a project, children can make a "collection" of games from their families, books, stories.
~ Children could split into two groups. One group shows the others how to play a new game by miming. Then swop.
Example games:
Cover your Ears (Korea).
This game is a favourite of both children and adults. Any number of players can join the fun.
The players sit in a circle. One player is chosen as the leader, and places both hands over their ears.
~ The player to the left of the leader places their right hand over their right ear. The player to their right must place their left hand over their left ear. (In other words, the ears nearest to the leader are covered.)
The leader removes both hands and points to another player in the circle.
~ The new leader puts both hands over their ears. Again, players immediately to the left and right of the leader cover their "near-side" ears. The new leader then points to another player and the game continues as quickly as possible.
Any player who is slow to cover an ear, or who makes a mistake, is out of the game. The winner is the last player left in the game.
Who is it? (Chile).
This is a game for six to thirty players.
~ One child is IT. The players stand in a line behind IT. IT should not see who is behind him/her.
IT takes nine slow steps forward while the other players quickly change places. One of them takes the place directly behind IT.
~ The other players ask IT: "Who is behind you? "
IT can ask three questions before guessing who it is. For example:
"Is it a boy or a girl?" , "Is she/ he short or tall?" , "Is she/ he dark or fair?"
~ The other players give one word answers to the questions. IT must then guess who is standing immediately behind.
If IT guesses correctly, that person remains IT for another turn. If IT guesses incorrectly, another player becomes IT.
(For more games see Songs, Games, Stories from around the World. Details on page 193 of this manual)
Stories from around the World
Aim: This activity uses stories to help children to explore the similarities amongst the children of the world regardless of nationality, gender or race.
Learning points:
- We are all different but we share many similarities.
- Rights are based on the similar needs of different people.
What you need:
- Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child on page 171.
- Example stories on pages 59 and 60.
Time: About an hour
How to do it:
~ Explain that children all over the world listen to different stories.
Tell the children some stories from different countries (if you have a globe or an atlas show them where those countries are). There are some ideas given on the next page.
~ Ask them which story from their country they like most and would tell to children in other parts of the world.
If some children belong to an ethnic group, ask if they know some
stories from their own culture which they might want to tell. (But if they don"t want to, don"t force them.)
~ Ask the questions listed below as a way to the develop children's awareness of the similarities between children all over the world.
Questions:
..
Which story did you like most? Why? What makes a good story?
~ Why do people all over the world tell stories? What sort of stories can we think of?
Why did we do that?
Choices:
~ "The Beggar's Soup" and "Dividing the Cheese" can be used to show the consequences of dishonesty. Ask the class to write their own stories about dishonesty.
Folk tales from your country can be useful for teaching about human rights. For example, stories where children suffer can be used with the Simplified Convention on the Rights of the Child (see page 171)
~ As an action, children could write their own stories or perform a play to illustrate one of the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (see page 157).
Example stories:
The Fox and the Turkey (Pueblo Indian USA). O-way-way-ham-by-joh, which means a very long time ago, Mr Fox went out to hunt. He and Mrs Fox had been living on roots for many days, so he was hungry for something more tasty to eat.
He hunted for a long time until he grew tired. Then suddenly he bumped into a great fat turkey. He was just about to sink his sharp teeth into the turkey when the turkey said: "Wait, Fox-man, are you ill? You look so pale! Don't you want to take a nap? You lie down and go to sleep and I'll go down to your house and tell Mrs Fox to cook me for your dinner. Poor fellow, you look so tired!" This made Mr Fox feel really ill.
"That would be kind of you, Turkey-man."
So the turkey started off toward the fox's den and the fox watched him until he reached the door, then he lay down under a tree to sleep.
The turkey knocked loudly.
"Who's there?" asked Mrs Fox.
"Just a friend with a message for you."
"Won't you come in?" said Mrs Fox.
+
"No thank you," said the turkey, "I'm in a hurry. Mr Fox just asked me to come by and tell you that he will be back soon. He is very hungry and wants you to cook some roots for his dinner."
And then the turkey ran away.
Mrs Fox got busy and cooked some roots.
Very soon Mr Fox came home smacking his lips. He was so pleased to think what a delicious turkey dinner he was going to have. Mrs Fox brought the dinner and set it on the table before Mr Fox. He bit a big piece and began to chew.
"This is the toughest turkey I have ever tasted" he cried. "It tastes more like roots than turkey. What is the matter with it?"
"Turkey!" said Mrs Fox. "I have no turkey!" These are roots! Someone knocked at the door this morning. He told me you were hungry and wanted me to cook some roots for your dinner."
"Oh" groaned Mr Fox, "that must have been the turkey!"continued...Example stories continued...
Dividing the Cheese (Cape Verde Islands). Two cats stole a cheese. One wanted to divide it. The other did not trust him, so he said, "No, let us get a monkey to divide it between us!" The first went to find a monkey and asked him to be the judge. "Certainly," said the monkey.
He sent them for a large knife and some scales. But instead of cutting the cheese in halves, he made one piece bigger than the other. Then he put them in the scale. "I didn't divide these well," he said. He started to eat the heavier piece of cheese. "What are you doing?" cried the cats.
"I am going to eat some of this piece to make it even with the other." Soon the piece he was eating was smaller than other piece. He changed over and began to eat the other.
The cats saw that before he was done he would have eaten all the cheese. They said, "Sir Judge, let us have the rest of the cheese, and we will divide it ourselves."
"Oh no," said the monkey, "you might fight over it, and the king of the animals would come after me." So the monkey went on eating, first one piece, then the other. The cats saw that nothing would be left. One cat turned to the other and said, "We should have divided the cheese ourselves."
After the monkey had eaten all the cheese, he said, "Let us all go in peace, and never again let your interest blind your understanding."
The Beggar's Soup (Sri Lanka). Seven wandering andiyas (beggars) once happened to spend the night in the same resting place. They agreed to cook a common pot of congee (rice cooked in water) for their dinner, with each andiya putting in one handful of rice.
One by one, each andiya reached out over the pot to drop in his rice. But they were tricky fellows, and not one of them actually put a single grain of rice in the pot. Each andiya thought the others would provide the promised handful.
When the congee was served, each andiya received a bowlful of hot water!
Sending us to the stars
Aim: This imaginative project helps children think about the differences and similarities between human beings.
Learning points:
- Our human similarities are greater than our differences.
- Rights are based on the similar needs of different people.
What you need: Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see page 171)
Time: One hour, plus homework
How to do it:
Ask the children to pretend that they are members of a very important space project. Ask them to imagine that space signals have confirmed the existence of an intelligent life form. The United Nations has decided to send a space ship in the direction from which the signals came. It will carry information about Earth. Ask them what they would choose to send on the spaceship to tell intelligent beings on other planets about human beings. The choices should help the intelligent beings to understand that human beings all over the Earth have both similarities and differences.
~ This can be done as an individual project, allowing children the opportunity to ask parents and others what they would do. For example, would you send music? If so, what sort? Books? Films? Photographs? Models of people? If so, what sort and how would they be dressed?
Alternatively, groups can brainstorm ideas very quickly.
~ With the children, look at their choices. Suggest other things which they might not have thought of. For example, are there any representations of people with disabilities?
Ask the children the following questions to help them to think about similarities and differences.
Questions:
~ Are there more differences or similarities between the people of the world? What would you think if you were an alien looking down on Earth?
What do you think an alien would think if it saw people fighting and being unkind to each other?
~ What are more important, differences in customs, dress, language and body shape, or our similarities? Why?
Choices:
Up-end a waste paper bin on a desk. Explain that this is an alien from another part of the universe, who is curious to know about local life-forms, and in particular, about those odd bi-peds that call themselves, in so many languages, "people". Ask the children for suggestions that might help the alien to identify a "human" being, whenever it finds one in its travels.
~ As an action, the class could write and perform a play about an alien who visits Earth and cannot recognise differences between people who are tall/short, fat/thin, black/white...
As a project (see page 30) the class could make a wall display grouping different sorts of human legs, arms, faces, clothes, foods, etcetera cut from newspapers or magazines.
The Boy with Two Eyes
Aim: This short story gives children a positive picture of "difference".
Learning points:
- Disabled people have the right to be treated in the same way as everyone else.
What you need: The Simplified Version of the Convention of the Rights of the Child (page 166).
Time: About an hour
How to do it:
~ Tell the children the story below. Then ask the questions which follow.
"Way, way out in space there is a planet just like Earth. The people who live on the planet are just like us except for one thing, they only have one eye. But it is a very special eye. With their one eye they can see in the dark. They can see far, far away, and they can see straight through walls. Women on this planet have children just like on Earth.
One day a strange child was born. He had two eyes! His mother and father were very upset.
The boy was a happy child. His parents loved him and enjoyed looking after him. But they were worried because he was so unusual. They took him to lots of doctors. The doctors shook their heads and said "Nothing can be done."
As the child grew up, he had more and more problems. Because he couldn't see in the dark, he had to carry a light. When he went to school, he could not read as well as other children. His teachers had to give him extra help. He couldn't see long distances, so he had to have a special telescope. Then he could see the other planets, like everyone else. Sometimes when he walked home from school he felt very lonely. "Other children see things I can't see," he thought. "I must be able to see things they don't see."
And one exciting day, he discovered he could see something that nobody else could see. He did not see in black and white as everybody else did. He told his parents how he saw things. He took his parents outside and told them about his thrilling discovery. They were amazed! His friends were amazed as well. He told them wonderful stories. He used words they had never heard before...like red and yellow...and orange. He talked about green trees and purple flowers. Everybody wanted to know how he saw things. He told wonderful stories about deep blue seas and waves with foaming white tops. Children loved to hear his stories about amazing dragons. They gasped as he described their skin, their eyes and their fiery breath.
One day he met a girl. They fell in love. She didn't mind that he had two eyes. And then he found that he didn't mind either. He had become very famous. People came from all over the planet to hear him talk. Eventually they had a son. The child was just like the other children on the planet. He had only one eye."
Questions:
What do you think it was like to have two eyes on a one-eyed planet?
~ What difficulties do you think the boy with two eyes had? Why?
What other sort of differences in their abilities do people have?
~ Would you be "different" if you lived somewhere else on Earth? Why? How would you like to be treated if you were "different"?
Choices:
Look at article 23 of the Simplified of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see page 166). What sort of "special care" might disabled children need? If there was a disabled child in your class what would you do to help?
~ Ask the class to imagine that they are going to a country where everyone has one eye. Ask them to write a letter to their new friends telling them how two-eyed people like to be treated.
Ask the class to re-create the story in another form. For example, as a play or a picture.
~ As a project (see page 30) children could study one particular disability, learning more about how people who have that disability live, what they can and can't do, what special equipment or help (if any) they need. This is an excellent opportunity for children to meet disabled people and challenge prejudices they might have about disability.
These activities are about our responsibilities to each other. They introduce children to the idea that it is best to treat others as you would like to be treated yourself. Some of the activities improve listening skills. All of them build trust between children, as part of creating a classroom environment of responsibility and respect for each other's rights.
These activities are continued for older children on page 109.
How do you feel?
Aim: This quick game encourages sensitivity to other people's feelings.
Learning point:
- Sensitivity to each others feelings is the basis for protecting each other's rights.
What you need: Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see page 171).
Time: Half an hour
How to do it:
Two children leave the room.
~ While they are out, the other children choose a feeling to act when they come back in. For example, happy, angry, disappointed, excited, bored, lonely and so on.
The two children return and the others act out the chosen feeling. The two children have to guess the feeling.
~ Repeat this as many times as seems appropriate.
Ask the questions below.
Questions:
To the children who went out of the classroom -
~ Was it easy to guess the feelings?
How did you guess?
To the whole class -
~ Is it a good idea to know how the people around you are feeling? Why?
Have you ever felt happy when everyone else was sad, or sad when everyone else was happy? What was that like?
~ What would happen if no-one paid any attention to anyone else's feelings?
Choices:
Look at the Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see page 171) "Children have the right to be kept save and not hurt or neglected." How can being aware of each other"s feelings help to fulfill this right?
~ As a project (see page 30) for older children, work with them to create a role play about a situation where different feelings are involved (for example, a fight in the playground). See the advice on using roleplay on page 24.
Touch me Gentle
Aim: This quick game generates positive group feelings. (Note: This activity works best with small children. Older children and adults may be reluctant to touch each other in this way. It is up to you to decide whether it is an appropriate activity for your group.)
Learning point:
- "Do to others as you would have them do to you." (i.e : respecting other peoples' rights encourages them to trust you and to respect yours)
What you need: Summary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (page 171)
Time: Twenty minutes.
How to do it:
Ask the children walk in a circle.
~ Ask them to sit down with their face to the back of the child in front.
Ask them to imagine their favourite colour being poured over the shoulders of the child in front of them.
~ Show them a simple, gentle shoulder massage movement. Allow a few minutes while everyone massages the person in front of them.
Everyone turns around and massages the one who massaged them.
~ Ask the questions below.
Questions:
What was it like to be massaged? What was it like to massage someone else?
~ What if someone was unkind or rough to the person in front of them? What would happen when we turned around? Why?
How would you massage someone if you wanted them to be nice to you when you turn around?
~ Can you think of any examples like this in real life?
Choices:
Look at the Summary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on page 171. What would happen if we all ignored each others rights and did as we pleased? Which rights would this affect? How? Would like to live in such a world?
~ When children are angry, ask them to tighten their muscles then imagine the same colour running down their body from head to toe, making their muscles relax. They can then step away from the puddle of colour at their feet, much less angry.
Talking Stick
Aim: This sharing activity helps children develop listening and talking skills.
Learning point:
"Children have the right to express their own opinions and to meet together to express their views" (see page 171).
What you need: Summary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (page 171). Any knobbly stick, not too big, and without sharp bits.
Time: At least 10 minutes
How to do it:
Explain to the children that the Native American People or "Indians" had a way of listening to each other so that everyone got a chance to talk. They used a talking stick. Whoever has the talking stick has the power to speak and everyone else has the power to listen. The stick is passed around in a circle. Anyone who doesn"t want to speak simply passes it on. The talking stick can be used in different ways. For example, to tell news or to give opinions. It is a good way to get shy children to speak with confidence and to persuade dominant children to respect the rights of other children.
~ A good way to start is for the teacher to take the stick and, for example, say something which he or she likes, then pass the stick on to the child next to him or her. This is an easy way to show the children how to use the talking stick.
Be sure not to force children to speak.
~ After the activity, ask the questions below.
Questions:
What was it like to speak / to hear other people speak?
~ Did you find out anything new or surprising?
Do you like to be interrupted?
~ What is the advantage of letting someone speak without interruptions?
Choices:
When fights or other incidents have happened, this can be used to find out the opinions of the class about what should be done to solve the conflict.
~ Adults can use this activity in exactly the same way, for example to get to know each other.
Nursery Rhymes go wrong
Aim: This rhyming game helps to develop listening skills (see also page 106).
Learning point:
- Listening well helps us to respect other people's rights.
Time: Half an hour
How to do it:
Say a familiar rhyme to the children but change one word.
~ The children must spot the incorrect word and say what it should be.
When they are used to this, change two words.
~ Ask the questions below.
Questions:
When we are listening carefully, what do we do with our minds and our bodies? (the children might say: leaning forward, nodding, thinking about it...)
~ What do we do with our minds and our bodies when we are not listening very well? (the children might say: looking away, not asking questions.....)
Do you think it is possible to get better at listening by practising?
~ What are the advantages of listening carefully? (In our families, at school, in the street...)
What would happen if everyone in the world stopped listening to each other?
Choices:
~ Ask the class to write a story, a play, or to make a picture about a situation where someone didn't listen.
As a project (see page 30) ask the class to note during a weekend the times when they saw someone not listening. This data could be used for basic mathematical practice, displaying similar situations as percentages of the whole.
Trust Me
Aim: This exciting and active game helps children to understand the importance of trust and cooperation.
Learning point:
- We need to cooperate to achieve human rights for all.
What you need: Summary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (page 171).
Blindfolds for half of the children.
Time: Forty-five minutes
How to do it:
~ Ask the children to form pairs.
Blindfold one child in each pair.
~ The other child in the pair is "leader" and leads their partner around the room.
The "leaders" should find a variety of (safe!) experiences for their partners. For example, asking them to identify objects by touch, leaving them alone for a moment, running together on smooth ground. Encourage "leaders" to use their imagination.
~ Pairs swop roles.
After the game, allow time for the class to talk about the game. Use the questions below to start the discussion.
Questions:
~ What was it like to be "blind"/the leader?
How did you communicate?
~ Did you prefer one role? Why?
Did you feel responsible when you were the leader?
~ Did you trust your leader?
Why is trust important? (In families, friendships, between countries...)
Choices:
~ Pick one of the rights on page 171. How would the world need to cooperate to make sure that this one right was realised for children everywhere? (For example, the right to enough food and clean water would require trust and cooperation by governments, food growers, traders, ....)
In an adaptation of this game, one child is a "ship" and the others are "rocks". The rocks sit on the floor with spaces between them. The ship is blindfolded and must walk from one end of the room (the sea) to the other (the shore) without bumping into a rock. When the ship comes close to a rock, the seated child makes a noise like waves on a rock to warn the ship to change direction. When the ship reaches the shore, another child becomes the ship.
~ As an action, the class could prepare and perform a play for the whole school about a situation where co-operation prevents disaster.
These activities help children to understand that, like our thoughts, our rights are inalienable - that is to say, they are our own and cannot be taken away from us. They also show how rights have come to be defined and that they are based on the basic needs of all human beings.
These activities are continued for older children on page 122.
What's this for ?
Aim: This imagination game with junk helps to introduce children to the concept of universal and inalienable rights. It also raises questions about similarities and differences.
Learning point:
- We all have "inalienable" qualities and also inalienable rights.
What you need:
- Junk objects collected by children from school or home, such as containers, packets, rags...
- Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child on page 171.
Time: About 20 minutes
How to do it:
Sit in a circle
~ Pass round one object. Each child suggests an imaginary use for it. For example, an empty packet could be a hat, a shoe, a suitcase... If they don't have an idea, they can pass it on.
Encourage imaginative suggestions.
~ When ideas run out, pass round another object.
Ask the following questions.
Questions:
~ What is "imagination"? When do we use it? What for?
We all have an imagination which we are born with. Our imagination cannot be taken away from us. In the same way, we all have rights, which we are born with, and which cannot be taken away from us. Our rights can be ignored or violated by other people, but we still have them, no matter where we live or who we are - just the same as we all have our imaginations, no matter who are.
Choices:
~ This activity is also useful for teaching about similarities and differences: we all have brains but our thoughts and ideas are sometimes different, sometimes similar, but never identical. You can explore this idea with the class by asking the class "what is this?" before you pass round an object. The class might all agree that it is an old rag, but then their different brains can make it into a hundred different things.
As a project (see page 30) ask the class to find things and situations which people see differently. For example, because of their height, their eyesight, their distance from the object, their prejudices, etcetera. The children can make their findings into a wall display or book.
An important job
Aim: This brainstorming activity helps to show that human rights documents are based on the basic human needs of all people.
Learning point:
- Rights are based on the similar needs of different people.
What you need: The Simplified Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Summary, from Part Five of this manual. Write the Summary on a large piece of paper.
Time: About an hour
How to do it:
~ Ask the class to imagine that they have been asked by the United Nations (the parliament of the world's nations) to make a list of all the things which all the children everywhere need to be happy and healthy. For example, food, play, air, love...
Write up these "needs" as they are suggested without judging them.
~ When there are no more suggestions, ask the class to identify which of their suggestions are really needs, and which are "wants". (For example, TV and sweets would be "wants" not "needs"). Try to identify needs which are the same for all children everywhere.
Now show the class the summary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Explain that years ago, a similar list was made by the UN, and later it became the Convention. The Convention reminds the world"s nations of the needs of their children.
~ Ask the class to compare their list and the summary of the Convention. Which needs have been identified as rights? Are there any differences between the two lists? Why?
Ask the questions below.
Questions:
~ Why do you think that the United Nations thought it was important to list children's rights?
Why do you think the Convention is a list of needs, not wants?
~ Do you think all the children in your country and in the world have all these rights? Why not?
Look at one or two of the rights in the Convention. What might happen to take away these rights from a child?
~ What do you think the leaders of your country, your teachers, parents, or you and your classmates could do to make sure that all the children in your country have these rights guaranteed?
Choices:
Stand or sit in a circle. Each child takes a turn to act out one of the things from their list. For example, they might act putting on clothes, eating a meal, hugging a friend, playing a game, writing a letter, or a feeling such as happiness or freedom. Go around the circle again. The first child does "their" action, and keeps doing it while the second child joins in with "theirs", until the whole class and the teacher are doing their actions at the same time. Rest!
~ As an action, the class can perform a play for parents which begins with "wants" and ends with "needs".
Big people - little people
Aim: This interviewing activity aims to help children to relate human rights to their own environment and to show that recognition of human rights has been gradual.
Learning point:
- The codification of rights is a late-twentieth century development, but rights themselves have existed and been violated, fought for, and gradually achieved throughout history.
What you need:
- Summary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on page 171.
Time: Three lessons, spread over several weeks.
How to do it:
Explain to the class that human rights documents such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child are recent developments, and that in the past, many of the human rights in the Convention were not available to all children. Explain that in many modern countries, this is still so.
~ With the children, make a short list of local people who might be able to answer the question: "have the lives of children in our town improved in the last century?". For example, their grandparents. A list of about four people is ideal.
Ask the class to write to these people to invite them to the school to be interviewed. (It is easiest at first if the interviewees come to the class.)
~ Remember to ask the interviewees for short accounts of their knowledge about the subject on which they will be questioned. These can be read and discussed by the children before the day of the interview, so that questions can be prepared in advance. When preparing questions, the class should think "what do we want to learn?". For example, if an interviewee has indicated that they worked as a child instead of going to school, the children could plan to ask about their memories, a particular event, how they felt about it, when it happened, how and why, who was there, and so on.
When the interviewees come in, seat them where the whole class can see.
~ The children can take it in turns to ask their questions. Let the interview develop naturally - try not to interrupt unnecessarily.
Record the answers, in writing or on cassette.
~ If more than one interviewee is present, ask them to discuss questions, instead of answering individually. This can be very lively!
After the interviews, ask the class to compare the interviews with the summary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Ask the following questions:
Questions:
~ Do you think children's rights were respected in the past?
Which rights were ignored? Why?
~ Would you have liked to live at that time?
Have things got better for children? Or worse? Why?
Choices:
~ Older children could also interview people in their own homes.
Use newspapers to discover how the rights of children in other parts of the world are ignored or protected.
~ As a project (see page 30) ask the class to make a play, poems, stories or artwork comparing children's lives in the past and the present.
National literature may be a good source for stories about what children"s lives were like in the past.
~ As an action, children could write a play about the achievement of children's' rights and perform it at a local festival.The Calendar Game
Aim: This activity with photographs helps to explain how all rights are linked. It can be used with children, teenagers, and adults.
Learning Points:
- Rights are "universal" (everyone has them).
- Rights are "indivisible" (you cannot enjoy some rights while denying others)
What you need:
- About 12 photographs or other good quality pictures of people from around the world in as many different situations as possible. Calendars, newspapers and magazines are good sources for these pictures.
- Simplified Version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on page 163.
Time: About 30 minutes
How to do it:
Spread the pictures out on the floor or on a table where everyone can see them.
~ Ask the children to pick out the three pictures (as a whole group) which they like best. This will take a few moments.
Pick up the three chosen pictures. Tidy away all the other pictures so that they do not distract the children.
~ Hold one of the three chosen pictures where everyone can see it. Ask the children the questions listed further down this page to stimulate their imaginations about the picture. Be open to all of the suggestions!
Repeat this imagination exercise for the other two chosen pictures.
~ Now go back to the first picture. Ask the children: "Which right or rights do you think this picture represents?" (If the participants are very young or are unfamiliar with human rights, allow them to consult the Simplified Version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on page 163.
Repeat this question for the other two chosen pictures.
~ Spread out all the pictures again. Ask the children: "What about these others? Which right or rights each of these represent?" Use this opportunity to explain that all rights are "universal" (everyone has them).
Now ask the children to see whether they can split the pictures into different piles, each pile corresponding to one of the points in the Simplified Version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from page 163. The children will soon realise that this task is impossible, as all rights are linked, so one picture will represent several rights at once. Use this opportunity to explain that rights are "indivisible" (you cannot enjoy some rights while denying others).
Questions:
~ Where do you think this photograph was taken?
What do you think is happening?
~ What time of day is it?
Are these people related?
~ Are they poor/rich, happy/sad?
What are they looking at/doing/saying?
~ Where are they going? Where have they been?
Do they know the photographer?
~ What do they think of her/him?
Choices:
If the pictures used all feature children, this activity can also be used with the Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child. (see page 171)
~ As a project, children can collect as many pictures as possible of people from around the world and make a display with them in the classroom or kindergarten.
"It's not fair..." Fairness is something we each think we can judge well. We recognise at once what is not fair and can usually give a quick answer to the question "Why isn't it fair?"
Fair means honest and just, giving the same chances and treatment or the same amount to everyone, according to the rules if there are any. A simple example is running a race; a race is only fair if the rules are the same for everyone. If we all start at the same time, run the same distance, and are all of the same age and ability, that is fair.
Life would be fair if we all had an equal chance: if everyone had enough to eat, and clean water to drink; if everyone could go to school; if everyone were treated equally, regardless of their colour, their sex or their religion; if everyone could vote freely. These are some examples to show what fairness is.
Realizing the importance of fairness in their own lives is important for giving children a better understanding of the need for fairness in the world.
These activities are continued for older children on page 131.
The Name Game
Aim: This sitting game enables children to get recognition and give it to others.
Learning points:
- We all have the right to a name.
- Everyone benefits from fairness.
What you need: The Simplified Version of the Convention on the Rights of the Child from page 166 (Especially article 7). Sponge ball or cushion.
Time: Less than half an hour
How to do it:
The children sit in a circle on the floor.
~ A child throws the ball to another child, calling out the name of the "catcher". If the name is correct, the catcher becomes the "thrower", and throws the ball on to another child, calling out the name of the new catcher. If the thrower has called out the wrong name, the child who is catching the ball corrects them and throws the ball back.
Affirm children who might otherwise be left out by purposely throwing the ball to them when it is your turn.
~ When everyone has had enough goes, ask the questions below.
Questions:
Did everyone have the same chance to be the thrower? Why? Why not?
~ What would it have been like if you never had the chance to be the thrower? Why?
What can we do to make sure we play fairly next time?
~ Can you think of a time when something unfair happened to you?
How can we avoid unfairness in our class, school, family?
Choices:
~ Look at article 7 of the Simplified Version of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on page 166. How would your life be different if you didn't have a name?
Ask the class to write a story or a play about an unfair situation that is made fair.
~ This activity can be good for introducing a new class to each other.
When the class all know each other"s names, make the game more difficult. For example, the first thrower could start a sentence to which every thrower has to add one word.
~ As a project, children can investigate where different names come from and what they mean.
Know your Apple
Aim: This observation game raises issues of sharing in the class. This observation game raises issues of sharing in the class, and also teaches children that our perceptions of similarities and differences are very subjective. This basic idea is then linked through the questions to ideas about stereotyping in society.
Learning points:
- Rights are based on fairness.
- Children have the right not to go hungry.
What you need: Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child from page 171. One apple (or any fruit or vegetable) for each child.
Time: One hour
How to do it:
Ask the children to sit in pairs in a small circle.
~ Ask the class what are the characteristics of apples. Are all apples the same?
Give one apple to each pair.
~ Each pair should observe its own apple for a while. Tell them to note its colour, any bumps, lumps, or other things that makes it different from other apples.
Collect the apples in a bag.
~ Pass them around one by one. Each pair examines each apple in turn. If a pair recognises its apple, it holds onto it.
When each pair has reclaimed their apple they all can be eaten.
Questions:
~ Look at the second point in the Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see page 171). How can fairness and sharing help to protect this right for all children?
Who got their apple back first/last? Why?
~ Were you worried that someone else had got your apple?
What if your apple hadn"t appeared at all, how would you have felt?
~ Here we shared apples. What else do we share at school? Is sharing sometimes a problem? Why?
What would happen if everyone forgot how to share? (In school, at home, in the world.)
~ Were all the apples the same? What was similar about the apples? What was different? (If the class started the activity believing that all apples are the same, ask them their opinion has now changed.)
Choices:
This activity can also be done using stones, pieces of wood, or any other group of slightly different items.
~ As a project (see page 30) ask the children to create and share with the class a story, play, or a picture about a world where everyone forgot to share.
If you want to raise the issue of stereotyping, remind the children that they thought all apples were the same, when actually they are quite different. Now show them as many different pictures as possible of a social group who are sometimes perceived to be "all the same". For example, ethnic minorities in your country, or people from distant parts of the world. Ask the children what stereotypical image people in other countries might have of the people in your country. Are stereotypes helpful? Why? Why not?
Camouflage
Aim: In this indoor or outdoor game, children learn to identify and question unfairness.
Learning point:
- Rights are based on fairness.
What you need: The Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see page 171). Three balls of wool of different colours. One ball should be a distinctive colour such as red, or yellow, and the others should be colours which blend with the indoor or outdoor surroundings.
Time: About an hour
How to do it:
~ Cut out 20 or 30 pieces of wool from each colour.
Hide them in a field or a park nearby (or, if indoors, around the classroom or school). Ask an older child, teacher or parent to help you to hide them.
~ Divide the children into three teams. Each team should look for wool of one colour only.
Give them a time limit and agree on a time-up signal.
~ Count how many pieces of wool each team was able to find. The winner is the team with the most pieces of wool.
The team which is looking for the brightly coloured wool will probably win, because it is easier to find.
~ Ask the questions below.
Questions:
What did it feel like to be on the winning team?
~ What did it feel like to be on the other team?
Which team found most pieces? Why?
~ If we played again, which team would you like to be on? Why?
Is the game fair?
~ Can it be made fair?
Think of all the games you know: What makes them fair? (For example, in football, both teams have the same number of players.)
Choices:
~ Look at the Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see page 171). For many children in the world, these rights are not realized. How would you feel if you were one of these children? What can be done about this unfairness?
For older children, make a game unfair, then use this as a starting point for thinking about global unfairness.(For example, in the distribution of wealth, water, food, land...)
A Definition of Fairness
Aim: This brainstorm activity helps to develop children"s natural sense of fairness.
Learning point:
- Rights are based on fairness.
Time: About one and a half hours
How to do it:
~ Brainstorm with the class on the question "what is fair/unfair?". Write down all the class's ideas where they can be seen (see page 27 for detailed advice on how to run a brainstorm). Try to keep ideas short, but don't shorten them without checking what the child meant.
Ask the class to form small groups (see page 26 for detailed advice on group work). Give the groups five minutes to write a definition of what fairness is.
~ Display the results on the wall. If some of the definitions are different ask the class if they can think of a common definition that includes all the definitions.
Display this definition on the wall (If there are several definitions, display them all).
~ Ask the questions below to help the children to think about what fairness means.
If possible, illustrate the definition with drawings about fairness/unfairness.
Questions:
~ Is fairness important? Why?
Can you think of a time from your life when something was fair and a time when something was unfair?
~ What makes things unfair?
How did it feel when things were unfair?
~ Can things always be made fair?
How can we try to make things fair in our class/school/country/world?
Choices:
~ This process of definition can also be used for freedom, tolerance, responsibility, peace, or any other issue related to human rights. Its value lies in encouraging children to express their in-born feeling about what is "right".
As a long-term project (see page 30) children can make human rights dictionaries. When unfamiliar words come up during you human rights teaching, work with the class to reach a simple definition which they can write in their dictionaries.
These activities about situations where rights come into conflict use roleplay and analysis of conflict situations at home and at school to encourage children to think of alternatives to fighting. They show children that one persons" rights end where the rights of the next person begin, and that when our rights conflict, it is best to cooperate to find a solution which respects everyone"s rights.
These activities are continued for older children on page 138.
(Parts of the activities in this section are adapted from Creative Conflict Resolution by J Kriedler, p. 53-59. See "Useful Books" in Part Six of this manual).
Andrea and Tony"s presents
Aim: This roleplay can help children to identify ways to solve conflicts of rights.
Learning points:
- Sometimes people are in situations where their rights come into conflict.
- These conflicts can be resolved peacefully.
What you need: The Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (see page 171). Andrea"s and Tony"s story
Time: About forty minutes
How to do it:
~ Tell the children the story below.
Ask them to act out the situation (for detailed advice about using roleplay see page 24).
~ They can play four roles: Andrea, Tony, the father and the mother.
Freeze the roleplay at the point of conflict. Ask the class for suggestions about what could happen next. The players then choose one of these suggestions and use it to finish off the roleplay.
~ Ask the questions below to help the class think of non-violent solutions to the conflict.
The players can then play out a peaceful ending.
Questions:
~ How did this conflict happen? Why did it happen?
How did the characters feel?
~ Was the end happy?
How could this conflict have been prevented?
~ What other endings could have worked?
Whose rights were Tony and Andrea ignoring? Which rights? (See Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child on page 171.)
Choices:
~ This activity can also be used to deal with conflict situations when they occur in the school. Ask the children involved in a fight, and possibly the whole class, to think of non-violent ways in which these real conflicts could be solved.
It can be useful to re-do a conflict roleplay with the participants reversing roles, so that they see the conflict from the other person"s point of view
Andrea and Tony"s story
Andrea and Tony were very happy because their parents bought them each a very nice present. Tony got a tambourine and he was so happy that he started to play on it straight away. Andrea was also very happy because she got a whistle. She started to play too. At first they were both very happy because they had got presents and they could both play at the same time, but after a while they found that they could not concentrate if they were both playing together. Andrea stopped playing and asked Tony if he could stop for a while and let her play. Tony said that it didn"t bother him if she played and that he didn"t want to stop. Andrea was so angry that she started to play very loudly and then Tony tried to play even louder. They started to compete with each other and because they were making such a noise their parents came into the room."
Poor old Wolf!
Aim: This fun and imaginative story-telling activity aims to show children that respecting each other"s rights benefits everyone, unlike conflict in which only the victor benefits.
Learning points:
- Sometimes people are in situations where their rights come into conflict.
- These conflicts can be resolved peacefully.
What you need: One or two short folk tales or children"s stories in which there is a conflict between the characters. (If you think about this, you will see that many old tales are based on such conflicts
- usually with one character or group of characters stereotyped as "bad" and another character or group of characters stereotyped as "good".
Time: One hour
How to do it:
~ Choose a story (see "What you will need" above).
Read the story to the class.
~ Help the children to identify the conflict in the story by asking the questions listed below. (Usually, traditional tales have "bad" characters who die or are punished, and "good" characters who live happily ever after).
- Who was happy at the end of the story? Why?
- Who was unhappy at the end of the story? Why?
- Were anyone's rights ignored in the story? Whose? Who were they ignored by?
Ask the class to think of the story again, this time from the point of view of the monster, wolf, or other "bad" character. Ask them to re-tell it from this character"s point of view. Go through each incident in the story in this way. For example, a dragon might say "I am a dragon, it"s my job to eat people, then a horrible Prince came along and chopped off my head!..."
~ Now, ask the class how the story could be re-written so that everyone gets what they want, and conflict is avoided. The questions below can help with this. If there is time, the children could write their versions of the story, and illustrate them.
- Is it possible for this conflict to be solved peacefully? How?
- Is it possible for everyone in the story to get what they want? How?
- Why would that be better than a situation where someone wins and someone loses?
Choices:
As a project (see page 30) you may want to do more work on the idea of solving conflicts in a way in which no-one loses out. One way to do this is to introduce the class to the following four ways in which conflicts can end. Ask the children to help you think of examples from their experience which illustrate each one.:
- Win-win: everyone is happy and gets what they want.
- Win-lose: One person does not get what they want and is unhappy.
- Lose-win: The other person does not get what they want and is unhappy.
- Lose-lose: Everyone wastes their time arguing and no one gets what they want.
Once the class is familiar with this "win-win" way of looking at conflicts, use it when real conflicts happen in the classroom. Ask the children involved, or the whole class, to work out a win-win solution.
This does not necessarily have to be a compromise. Often, both people involved in the conflict can gain from a win-win solution. For example, imagine that two children are fighting over an orange. It may be that one wants to eat the insides , while the other wants the peel to make a cake. This conflict can be solved peacefully, and both children can "win"! Of course, not all conflicts are so easily solved, but trying to think in this way can be useful.
Conflict webs
Aims: This drawing activity helps children to analyse conflicts of rights using their own experience.
Learning points:
- Sometimes people are in situations where their rights come into conflict.
- These conflicts can be resolved peacefully.
What you need: Blackboard, or a big piece of paper
Time: Forty-five minutes
How to do it:
~ In the middle of the paper/board write the word "conflict" in a circle.
Ask the class what they think the word means.
~ Ask for memories or thoughts it evokes. Each time something is suggested, draw a solid line from the main circle and add the word or phrase which has been suggested.
When children begin to suggest ideas which are related to ideas already suggested, link them to the appropriate previous suggestion, not the main circle. Continue while interest remains high.
~ At the end, ask the questions below, which draw out some general ideas about conflict.
Questions:
How could we define "conflict"?
~ What do the conflicts we identified have in common?
What causes conflicts?
~ What makes them worse?
What prevents or solves conflicts?
~ In the examples, whose rights are ignored by who? Which rights? (See Summary of Rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child on page 17)
Choices:
As a project (see page 30) ask the class to keep a diary of conflicts that they see for a week. Ask them to identify conflicts which are solved in a useful way, conflicts which waste a lot of time, or which recur a lot. It may be useful to sort these conflicts into categories. For example, friendly/angry, simple/confusing, violent/nonviolent. Tell the class that stepping back from a conflict and analysing it is a first step for solving it in a way which respects the rights of everyone involved.
~ For more detailed analysis, ask the class about specific parts of the conflicts they recorded. For example: Could these solutions have been better? Or worse?
These activities help children to think of human rights as something which they are able to defend and fight for, wherever they live. There are also suggestions for action in the "Choices" parts of many of the activities in the preceding pages.
These activities are continued for older children on page 151.
Advertising our Rights
Aim: This artistic activity aims to encourage children to interpret and promote their rights.
Learning point:
- Everyone needs to be educated about human rights.
What you need:
- Simplified Version of the Convention of the Rights on the Child or any human rights document from Part Five of this manual.
- Poster-making material: Pens, paint, paper
Time: One and a half hours
How to do it:
Before the lesson, select groups of rights from the Convention which are related to each other. For example, rights about the child and it"s family.
~ Ask the class to form small groups or pairs.
Tell them that in many countries there are TV and radio advertisements for children"s rights, and also posters.
~ Ask each pair or group to make an advertisement explaining one right or a group of rights from the Convention. It could be a poster, a play, a song, or a poem for display. If some children decide to make posters, the tips below may be helpful.
The finished work can be displayed or performed for the class or for the whole school.
Tips for designing posters:
~ Have an idea of what you want to communicate before you start. Decide on your message and write it down.
Make small, quick drawings at first to test as many ideas as possible.
~ Don't be afraid to scrap an idea at any stage. It's much more important to work hard to get a strong idea than continue working on one you are not happy with.
Choices:
The United Nations and other international organizations have chosen special days to focus public attention on human rights every year. The dates shown here are just a few ideas. Creating posters, plays, and poems to celebrate these days would be a good way to focus your human rights teaching.
| International Women"s Day | March 8 |
| International Children"s Day | June 6 |
| Human Rights Day | December 10 |
Human Rights News
Aim: This project-based activity encourages children to take human rights out of the classroom and into the school.
Learning point: Human rights are part of all human activities.
What you need: Access to newspapers and other media.
Time: This is a project spread over several weeks.
How to do it:
~ Find a prominent place in the school where Human Rights News can be displayed and regularly updated. For example, a notice board in a busy corridor or near the entrance.
Read the advice about project work and working with newspapers from pages 30 and 35.
~ Encourage the children to watch newspapers, magazines, TV and radio for pictures and text which relate to human rights. For example, cartoons might show prejudice and violence, a war report might show how human rights are being violated in other countries, or a domestic news item might mention a local rights issue. Encourage them to cut out these news items, or to write a short account of them, if they were on TV. Put these items on the noticeboard.
If possible, allow the children themselves to decide what should appear in the Human Rights News. This is an opportunity for them to take responsibility for something themselves.
~ It is a good idea to make Human Rights News a short-term project at first, to take advantage of the children's' enthusiasm. If it is successful, then consider making it permanent.
Where possible, balance negative images with positive ones. For example, a story about how different groups in your country are working together.
Use the Human Rights News material as a basis for human rights teaching - with your students also looking for interesting material, your job will be made easier!
Choices:
~ Human Rights News can also include posters, paintings, and poems, and research by children about the local human rights situation. For example, an interview with an older person who suffered in war could be a useful addition. (The advice on interviewing on page 36 might be useful here).
The Human Rights News display could be turned into an exhibition for local people, or an information point in a busy street.
