Creating a fairer Britain
This enquiry explores the fact that human rights are children’s rights. All children and young people have the right to be treated with fairness, dignity, equality and respect.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child put in place measures to ensure that the Human Rights Act of 1988 would apply fully to children and young people and to raise awareness of the application of those rights. Children under 16 must be cared for by adults and there are laws preventing children from doing certain things. Mostly these are well-meaning and protect children from harm. But there are some situations where children are not able to voice their human rights, and are discriminated against compared to adults. For example, there are some public buildings which children can’t enter without an adult carer. As part of the Child Curfew Law, some outside areas are called ‘dispersal zones’, meaning that any young people there will be taken home in a police car. Children in care may not have enough freedom to visit relatives. Children may be given less opportunity to keep certain information private, or to wear symbols of belief at school. Liberty has played a key role in highlighting cases like this – see http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/issues/young-peoples-rights/index.shtml
A Sikh family has moved to a new area and their children attend the local secondary school, where there are no other Sikhs. The school has a very strict uniform policy which states no jewellery. The head claims the rule is for health and safety reasons, that jewellery can cause injury in playground fights and during sport. Sikhs have 5 symbols of their faith, including a Kara or bangle. It is very important for their identity to wear them at all times. The new girl insists on wearing her Kara as she explains it isn’t jewellery but a symbol of faith. After various punishments, she is excluded from the school and has no other school to go to. You are part of a team of lawyers who have been asked to argue her case (that she should be allowed to attend the school and wear her Kara). Looking at the Articles of the Human Rights Act, what rights do you argue are being broken by the school?
The Articles on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Convention_on_Human_Rights
UN Respecting Rights scheme http://www.unicef.org.uk/tz/teacher_support/rrs_award.asp
Goldberg is a photographer who travels to record experiences of people from war torn, socially and economically devastated countries. Many of his images show children and young people, who alone or with adults are moving to Europe in search of stability and the promise of a better future. Children in these situations can be at risk of brutal treatment, not have access to education or be kept in waiting centres that deny their freedom. One of his techniques is to take instant Polaroid pictures of his subjects, then ask those people to write and draw into them, so they have a right to destroy or add to their photograph.
His profile http://tinyurl.com/yjq8cb7 and his Open See exhibition http://www.photonet.org.uk/index.php?pxid=956.