Children S Knowledge About The Convention On The Rights Of The Child
Children s knowledge about the Convention on the Rights of the Child An Empirical Study Investigating Sixth and Ninth Grade Pupils in Sweden Bachelor Thesis in Global Studies (15 credits) International Work – Managing in Global Studies Author: Anna Ferdinandsson, Anna Sperl Supervisor: Berndt Brikell Jönköping, June 2014
Bachelor Thesis in Global Studies Title: Children’s knowledge about the Convention on the Rights of the Child – An empirical study investigating sixth and ninth grade pupils in Sweden Author: Anna Ferdinandsson Anna Sperl Supervisor: Berndt Brikell Examiner: Marco Nilsson Date: 2014-05-28 Number of pages: 31 Subject terms: Convention on the Rights of the Child, Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 42, Children’s rights knowledge, Children’s rights awareness among children Abstract The 20th of November 1989 has become a historical day for children all around the world. The day when the United Nations established the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the international community agreed upon a commitment to make sure that every child has equal rights that must be protected, respected and fulfilled. The ratifying countries have used the Convention to implement new policies to improve the lives of millions of children all around the world. Today children are better of in many ways and more than ever before young people are recognized as having rights. However, in order for children to have the complete possibility to get their right recognized and to fully participate in the society both children and adults alike need to be aware of the convention and have the accurate knowledge. A child who knows that he or she, among other things, has the right to express his or her opinion freely and that adults should take their opinions into account, find it easier to do so. It has been shown in previous studies that this has resulted in more children standing up for their rights and having a greater desire of helping others. This study therefore builds on the current state of research to investigate children s own awareness of the Convention and their rights by examining sixth and ninth grade pupils from the city of Jönköping in Sweden. The chosen research approach had a quantitative design and was conducted in different classes during school time as a questionnaire survey. The study consists of 349 respondents (120 sixth graders and 229 ninth graders). The results have shown that more than 80 percent of the pupils have at some point heard about the children s rights. However, the number is significantly lower for how many pupils that have heard about the Convention. Furthermore, the findings reveal clear differences between sixth and ninth graders where the sixth graders often are more aware of their rights. Differences can also be seen between the different schools that have been investigated. Additionally, the results show that a majority of the children would like to receive more information and the children give their own examples on creative ways of learning more such as different exercises and games. i
Table of Contents 1. Introduction .1 1.2 Purpose and Research question . 3 1.3 Delimitations . 3 1.4 Structure . 3 2. Theoretical Framework.4 2.1 Historical perspective on children s rights . 4 2.2 Why knowledge about the CRC is highly essential. 5 2.3 Previous Research . 6 3. Methodological Framework .9 3.1 Research Method . 9 3.2 Research Design . 10 3.3 Research Instrument . 11 3.4 Sampling . 12 3.5 Analysis Methods . 14 3.5.1 Analysis of close-ended questions . 14 3.5.2 Analysis of open-ended questions . 15 4. Results .16 4.1 Awareness about Children s Rights and the CRC . 16 4.2 Education and Information about CRC . 18 4.3 Knowledge about the Articles in the CRC . 19 4.4 Children s Perspective on Education about the CRC . 21 4.5 Statistically Significant Relationship . 23 5. Analysis .25 5.1 Awareness and Information about Children s rights and the CRC . 25 5.2 Children s Perspective on the Education about CRC . 27 6. Discussion .29 6.1 Discussion of Results . 29 6.2 Discussion of Methods . 30 6.3 Implication for Research and Practice . 30 6.4 Future Research . 31 List of References .32 Appendix A: Survey Questionnaire.I Appendix B: Enkätundersökning . VIII Tables ii
Table 1 - ‐ Number of participants . 14 Table 2 - ‐ Have you ever heard about the Convention on the rights of the Child? 16 Table 3 - ‐ Every child and young person has the right . 20 Table 4 - ‐ Closed- ‐ended survey questions 1- ‐10 from SPSS . 23 Table 5 - ‐ Closed- ‐ended survey questions 11- ‐23 from SPSS . 24 Figures Figure 1 - ‐ Have you ever received information about the Convention on the rights of a child? . 18 Figure 2 - ‐ Politicians, public authorities and courts should always consider what is best for children when they decide on matters related to children . 21 Figure 3 - ‐ In what way would you like to learn more about the Convention on the Rights of the Child . 22 iii
1. Introduction In this chapter the background, purpose, research questions, structure, and delimitations are presented. The background introduces the reader to the topic, and the purpose limits the scope of the paper by defining the main area of investigation. To further specify what to expect from the paper, the research questions provide a common theme. They provide guidance to the reader and are answered at the end of this paper. The delimitations specifically exclude certain areas of interest that are not part of the research. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (henceforth referred to as the CRC) has been acknowledged across the world and is the most ratified of all the human rights treaties. The CRC has shown that the world has agreed upon a global unification around the views of children’s rights. With regard to that, children have been recognized as important social actors, at least compared to 26 years ago, before the ratification. Every single article in the CRC stands for protecting the children and should be emphasized in education and healthcare systems as well as in civil, legal and social services (Garbarino, 2011, p. 991). However despite the fact that countries have made commitments to follow the CRC there are still challenges remaining and further improvements that need to be made (Akengin, 2008, p. 237). Article 42, Knowledge of rights, states the following; States Parties undertake to make the principles and provisions of the Convention widely known, by appropriate and active means, to adults and children alike (UNGA, 1989, p. 19). Knowledge and understanding of your rights is to be able to protect them at the same time as you are increasing your quality of life. How should you be able to enforce them if you do not know that you have them? It is therefore highly essential that these rights are being taught to children without any restrictions (Akengin, 2008, p. 237). This is one of the main concerns that need to be addressed. Almost every State that has signed the treaty has at some point been criticized and given recommendations by the Committee on the Rights of the Child to increase the awareness about the CRC among children (Vaghri, Arkadas, Kruse, & Hertzman, 2011, p. 180). Since the CRC has been in force for more than 26 years it has been argued that schools and nongovernmental organizations (henceforth referred to as NGOs) should by now have made sure that every single child is aware of its existence and what it stands for (Laura Lundy, 2012, p. 393). 1
1.1 Problem If children should be able to fight for their own rights then it is highly essential that parents and right holders make sure that children are aware of their rights and the CRC. However, today a concerning amount of children lack the correct knowledge about their own rights. Article 42 in the UNCRC is emphasizing the need to not only make the rights known among children but also adults. If the adults do not have enough or the accurate knowledge about children s rights it is very likely that fewer children will comprehend them and what they imply (Mitchell, 2005, p. 316). Among other things it is highly crucial to make sure that the CRC is available in several languages, that the country has an approach were illiterate adults and children have access to it and that it is translated into a child friendly version so that even children in elementary school will be able to understand it (UNCRC, 2003, p. 18). Every five years, all the States that have signed and ratified the CRC have to send in a report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. After every country has submitted the report, a public hearing is held where representatives have to answer questions. Thereafter the Committee comments on the reports by making conclusions and recommendations, also known as Concluding Observations. In these reports, they highlight positive developments but they also give suggestions on improvements and flaws (Woll, 2000, p. 72). Sweden was given strong criticism both during year 2009 and 2014 on several parts. Among them were that the knowledge about the CRC is very low among children and that adults working with children s rights have not received sufficient knowledge or training in this area. The Committee gave Sweden strong encouragements and recommendations to improvements so that every child will be able to defend their rights. Besides that, strong knowledge improvements have to be made among teachers, lawyers, social workers and anyone else working with children (UNCRC, 2009). In January 2009, the child Ombudsman of Sweden did a quantitative research among children between the age of 11 and 14. The results revealed that 22 percent of the children had heard about the CRC, 11 percent knew what the CRC was about and even fewer pupils knew that the CRC is a legally binding document. Moreover, the report showed that it is not clear in the Swedish school policy documents that children's rights are a mandatory part of the education. Furthermore, it once again confirmed that not enough adults have received sufficient or the correct knowledge but also that they do not have a child perspective in important matters (Malmberg, 2009, p. 12,25). This shows that there is not enough information about children s knowledge about the CRC. In this regard, to counter this situation it is reasonable to do the research how much knowledge children have about their rights and the CRC in a city, where this has not been done before in order to close the existing research gap. 2
1.2 Purpose and Research question The purpose of the thesis at hand is to investigate children’s knowledge about their rights as mentioned in the CRC. In addition, we will examine in what way the children would like to be educated about the CRC and if they have received any education about it from their teachers. This study aims at answering the following research questions: Question 1: What knowledge do children in Sweden have about children s rights? Question 2: What knowledge do children in Sweden have about the CRC? Question 3: What differences can be seen between different gender and different grades? Question 4: In what way would children wish to receive more information about their rights and the CRC? 1.3 Delimitations This study solely focuses on children that are enrolled in the sixth and ninth grade. The country of investigation for this study is Sweden and will only investigate children from the city of Jönköping. 1.4 Structure In this study, chapter 2, the theoretical framework, contains required information that is needed in order to easily understand the study and the subsequent chapters. Chapter 3 describes the methodological framework. In this chapter, the methodological approach is both explained and justified. Moreover, the chapter provides the reader with information about the research design, research instrument, the sampling and reliability. The chapter is finalized by describing the analysis methods. Chapter 4 consists of the results conducted during the study. Chapter 5 analyses the results that are introduced in the previous chapter. In conclusion, the last chapter, chapter 5, includes a discussion of the results and the method. In addition to that, the research questions that are presented above are answered. Finally, the chapter gives suggestions for further research. 3
2. Theoretical Framework The first part of this chapter introduces an historical perspective on children s rights. The second part of the chapter argues for why it is highly essential for children to have the correct knowledge and understanding of their rights. The chapter is finalized by presenting previous research that has been made in a similar area of investigation. 2.1 Historical perspective on children s rights For more than 2000 years, until the 19th century, children were seen as inferior adults. This meant that they were considered incompetent and always dependent upon their family and relatives. However this changed due to, among other things, the French revolution, the change from an agriculture society to an industrial and the family structure (Akengin, 2008, pp. 224–225). During the First World War, children were suffering from the aftermath of the war. In regard to that, a woman named Eglantyne Jebb from England was one of the first to formulate the concept ‘children’s rights’. Jebb argued that every child had the right to live and that no child should die from preventable diseases. In 1919, she established the NGO Save the Children. However the first crucial change came in 1924 when The League of Nations established the Geneva Declaration on the Rights of the Child (Gnaerig & MacCormack, 1999, pp. 141–142). Three years after the founding of the United Nations, in 1948, the General Assembly introduced the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, 1997, p. 1). In this declaration, children s rights were only mentioned briefly in the second part of article 25 as seen below. 1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of himself and of his family, including food, clothes, housing and medical care and necessary social services, an the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. 2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection (UNGA, 1948, p. 76). Many people shared the opinion that the discussion about the rights of a child was finished because their needs and rights were included in article 25 of the declaration. However, frequent discussions followed and more and more people agreeing with Jebb’s opinions believed that children were particularly exposed in the communities and that they needed special rights exclusively addressing them (Verhellen, 1996, p. 308). A major step was made when the Declaration on the Rights of the Child was signed in 1959. The declaration included, among other things, a child s right to have a name and nationality and the right to not be discriminated. Still people from all over the world and with different professions continued working on establishing a new 4
document. Through the years the group expanded to include international NGO’s such as Save the Children. Finally, in 1989, the General Assembly adopted the CRC (UNICEF, 2009, p. 2). The articles set forward in the CRC are intended to show respect and protect the value and dignity of every child under the age of 18 (Libal, Mapp, Ihrig, & Ron, 2011, p. 368). To date, more than 26 years after its establishment, it has had an tremendous impact on attitudes, practices, legislation and policies concerning children (UNICEF, 2009, p. 9). 2.2 Why knowledge about the CRC is highly essential The CRC is a universal agreement, built on cultural traditions and different legal systems and the standards and obligations in the CRC are non-negotiable. The basic standards set the minimal rights and freedoms for each child and each government should respect these. The standards set forth in the CRC are built on respect for the worth and dignity of each child regardless of gender, race, religion and national or social origin. The standards are interconnected and also indivisible which means that it is not possible to guarantee some rights without considering the rest. The formation of the rights made it possible to apply them on every single child all over the world, and along with the rights comes an obligation for governments and individuals to respect and not encroach these rights. Every single right in the CRC stands for protecting the children and should be emphasized in education and healthcare systems as well as in civil, legal and social services (UNICEF, 2005, pp. 1–3). The importance of children’s awareness of their rights as a citizen and as a child is strongly emphasized in the society. According to the CRC, children should be able to have the complete opportunity to participate in society, without any restrictions. By having the correct knowledge about their rights, they are able to stand up for them even if others deny them (Willenberg, Tenenbaum, & Ruck, 2014, p. 447). A child who knows that he or she, among other things, has the right to express his or her opinion freely and that adults should take their opinions into account, find it easier to do so. It has been shown in previous studies that this has resulted in more children standing up for their rights (Malmberg, 2009, p. 10). Since the awareness about children’s wellbeing has grown as well as the movements for children's rights, investigations have not only been made to find out if children have the knowledge but also how they understand the concept of rights. In addition to that, for children to be able to take part of their rights and to be seen as equal it is essential that people working with children or adults around children have an understanding for the CRC (Lundy, 2007, pp. 930–931). Furthermore, a child’s knowledge and view upon their rights will not only depend on children’s rights education, but the society they grew up in may have had an impact on how they define and comprehend it. Therefore it is also important to compare the level of knowledge between children that live in different areas of a city and country (KhouryKassabri & Ben-Arieh, 2009, p. 97). 5
Implementing children s rights as a part of the subjects in school has been widely discussed. Schools play an important role in children's lives, they are not only supposed to develop academic achievements but also to foster and support the students for their future. Citizenship education is in general considered to be a key method in supporting and enhancing human rights and democratic values and attitudes among children in the society, especially in schools. The education aims to comprise three standpoints: community involvement, political literacy and social and moral responsibility. With regard to that, through education, it is shown that children can, in a meaningful way, understand their responsibilities and rights. Concepts that have the capacity to improve their citizenship and everyday behavior but also their learning process in school (Covell, Howe, & McNeil, 2008, pp. 321–322). However, this does not mean that the rights should only be brought up briefly during the lectures, but on the other hand, that an entire lectures or workshops should be dedicated to working with this and increasing the knowledge. By letting the children be active and involved in decisions in schools and participate, it shows that they take part of their rights. Encouragement from teachers for the children to participate and express their feelings and opinions both in and outside of schools shows respect for children and their human rights (Khoury-Kassabri & Ben-Arieh, 2009, pp. 97–99). This will also result in them having a greater desire of helping people who are vulnerable in the society, among others, children in precarious living situations (Holland, 1998, pp. 173–179). In 2009 the government of Sweden proposed a new Education Act that emphasized the need to incorporate the CRC in every aspects of the education. This includes that all children and adults alike should have the correct and accurate knowledge about children s rights (Björklund, 2010, p. 230). Results have shown that the awareness of civil participation and human rights among youths at a global level has grown. However, it is also essential to get an understanding into how children view their rights. Challenges to enforcing children’s rights have been acknowledged. In that regard, it is of great importance that their citizenship education strives to develop the abilities for children to advocate their rights (Willenberg et al., 2014, pp. 446–447). 2.3 Previous Research In the field of children s knowledge about their rights several previous studies have been made. Below both previous studies from Sweden and from other countries such as Canada and Turkey are presented. Previous research in Sweden A quantative questionnaire research that was made in Sweden among children in the age of 11-14 in the city of Stockholm about children s knowledge about their rights (Malmberg, 2009, p. 21). In the study, Malmberg (2009) revealed that the children have a generally good knowledge about their rights. However, it showed that only 22 percent responded that they have the right to express their views and decide what they are being educated about. The study also investigated if children had ever heard about the CRC and 22 percent answered that they had heard about it and 17 percent that 6
they knew what it was about. However, on the contrary, when Malmberg (2009) compared the results with the same study that was made two years earlier it showed that made the amount of children that have knowledge has decreased since year 2007. Additionally, a significant difference between the 11 and 14 year old pupils was that a higher amount of the younger students knew what the CRC was about compared to the older ones. Furthermore, out of all the pupils that answered that they had heard about the CRC less than 50 percent answered that they had received the information from teachers (Malmberg, 2009, p. 21). In addition to that Save the Children Sweden did a research in 2014 concerning children s perspectives on their rights in general among approximately 25.000 children. Compared to the previously mentioned research this one showed that 45 percent of the respondents had heard about the CRC (Douglas, 2014, p. 7). The main purpose with the quantitative study from Save the Children was however to let children give their own opinion on how they feel that their rights are being respected and observed. The emphasis was mainly on Article 3 from the CRC that is stating that every child’s best interest should be of primary concern. However, by concluding the results it is shown that more knowledge needs to be provided, not only among children but also among adults, especially since a high amount of the children stated that their rights are not respected enough (Douglas, 2014, p. 3). Previous Research made outside of Sweden In line with the research mentioned above, Mitchell (2005) conducted a qualitative research made, among other places, in a High school in Canada among pupils and staff members. The results revealed that barely any child or staff member knew what the CRC was about. Moreover, in the results that Mitchell (2005) presented it was show that that one of the pupils said that he wished that someone had taught him and his classmates earlier about the CRC, since he empathized that the children s rights affects his life in every single aspect. In addition to that, Akengin (2008) describes in a research he made in Turkey that less than 50% of the students had read the CRC, either partly or the entire document. However this was a result from pupils that had taken a citizenship and human rights course at two different schools. Furthermore, Akangin (2008), illustrated in his results that 50 percent of the pupils that knew about CRC had responded that they believe that the CRC has been implemented within Turkey. However approximately 33 percent agreed upon that CRC had been implemented partially. Considering the above-mentioned studies revealing children’s awareness of their rights, it becomes clear that none of the authors have investigated children’s perspectives on the education of children’s rights. According the research made by the child ombudsman, Malmberg (2009), it is not only crucial to conduct statistics about children and youths in Sweden but also to include children s perspectives and opinions. In the research Malmberg (2009) is stating that the results showed that a majority of the children answered that adults do not take their opinion into matter 7
when they are making a decision that is concerning the children, among other things, how children should be educated about CRC. With regard to this, none of the children in the above mentioned research have been asked how the information they received could have been more efficient, if they would like to receive more information about the CRC and in what way they would like to receive it. In regard to that, the previous studies mentioned above show the gap of knowledge and what needs to be further investigated. Therefore, the previous studies, specially the ones from Sweden, will be used as a framework and theory in this research. This is mainly done since some of the questions that have been used in previous studies considering knowledge about the CRC will be used in this research as well. This might include questions about if children have heard about the CRC and from whom they have received the information. This will be done in order to compare the findings from this study and to see if children s awareness has increased. 8
3. Methodological Framework In this chapter, the research method is introduced and justified. In the second part of the chapter, the research design and the limitations are presented. The third part is introducing the research instrument. Furthermore the sampling process is presented and explained. To finalize, the reached confidence and the analysis methods are presented. 3.1 Research Method Within quantitative research designs there are a variety of different ways to collect data. Some of the most used methods are case studies and surveys. However while case studies investigate something that is happening the survey is covering a wider variety of topics (Balnaves & Caputi, 2001, p. 66). Surveys are commonly used when investigating a specific population instead of just one individual. The data collected can therefore show opinions and attitudes that will make it possible to draw valid conclusions and generalize from the specific population (Calder, 1998, p. 638). However, there is awareness that by using surveys the response rate might b
Child Article 42, Children's rights knowledge, Children's rights awareness among children ! Abstract! The 20th of November 1989 has become a historical day for children all around the world. The day when the United Nations established the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the international community agreed upon a commitment to make sure
May 02, 2018 · D. Program Evaluation ͟The organization has provided a description of the framework for how each program will be evaluated. The framework should include all the elements below: ͟The evaluation methods are cost-effective for the organization ͟Quantitative and qualitative data is being collected (at Basics tier, data collection must have begun)
Silat is a combative art of self-defense and survival rooted from Matay archipelago. It was traced at thé early of Langkasuka Kingdom (2nd century CE) till thé reign of Melaka (Malaysia) Sultanate era (13th century). Silat has now evolved to become part of social culture and tradition with thé appearance of a fine physical and spiritual .
On an exceptional basis, Member States may request UNESCO to provide thé candidates with access to thé platform so they can complète thé form by themselves. Thèse requests must be addressed to esd rize unesco. or by 15 A ril 2021 UNESCO will provide thé nomineewith accessto thé platform via their émail address.
̶The leading indicator of employee engagement is based on the quality of the relationship between employee and supervisor Empower your managers! ̶Help them understand the impact on the organization ̶Share important changes, plan options, tasks, and deadlines ̶Provide key messages and talking points ̶Prepare them to answer employee questions
Dr. Sunita Bharatwal** Dr. Pawan Garga*** Abstract Customer satisfaction is derived from thè functionalities and values, a product or Service can provide. The current study aims to segregate thè dimensions of ordine Service quality and gather insights on its impact on web shopping. The trends of purchases have
Chính Văn.- Còn đức Thế tôn thì tuệ giác cực kỳ trong sạch 8: hiện hành bất nhị 9, đạt đến vô tướng 10, đứng vào chỗ đứng của các đức Thế tôn 11, thể hiện tính bình đẳng của các Ngài, đến chỗ không còn chướng ngại 12, giáo pháp không thể khuynh đảo, tâm thức không bị cản trở, cái được
Le genou de Lucy. Odile Jacob. 1999. Coppens Y. Pré-textes. L’homme préhistorique en morceaux. Eds Odile Jacob. 2011. Costentin J., Delaveau P. Café, thé, chocolat, les bons effets sur le cerveau et pour le corps. Editions Odile Jacob. 2010. Crawford M., Marsh D. The driving force : food in human evolution and the future.
Le genou de Lucy. Odile Jacob. 1999. Coppens Y. Pré-textes. L’homme préhistorique en morceaux. Eds Odile Jacob. 2011. Costentin J., Delaveau P. Café, thé, chocolat, les bons effets sur le cerveau et pour le corps. Editions Odile Jacob. 2010. 3 Crawford M., Marsh D. The driving force : food in human evolution and the future.
