Every activity in Compasito relates explicitly or implicitly to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

Some introduce children to the document (e.g. ‘Rabbit’s Rights’ or ‘Sailing to a New Land’). Others build on this introduction to make children more familiar with their rights, as in ‘A Human Rights Calendar’ and ‘Human Rights in the News’. Some more advanced activities ask children to decide what is or is not their human right or to name specific rights (e.g. ‘Board Games’).

Because the CRC is central to Compasito, facilitators need to be familiar with the document themselves and be able to explain its meaning to children. Compasito provides a child-friendly version of the CRC. As this document is called for in many activities, you may want to laminate copies for frequent reuse. You may also want to make a poster-sized version to hang in the place where you meet the children so that you can refer to it easily. A set of cards with the rights of the CRC is also presented for usage in some activities (e.g. ‘Board games’). Facilitators should consider printing them on hard paper to make them easier to use. 

The CRC contains some complex concepts that will almost certainly need some explanation for children to understand:

Dignity: The equality and inherent dignity of every human being is a fundamental concept of human rights. Children may need help in defining this concept in concrete terms.

Discrimination: Freedom from discrimination is another fundamental tenet of human rights included in all principal human rights documents. Article 2 of the CRC prohibits discrimination in several specific areas, which children may not fully understand:

• ‘Race’
• Ethnic or social origin, property (‘social or economic status’)
• Birth, which includes children born inside or outside of marriage.

Evolving capacities (’Growing maturity’): This phrase in Article 5 refers to the child’s increasing ability to exercise rights as he or she becomes older and more  capable of responsibility and independent judgment.

Refugee (“you have come to a new country because your home country was unsafe”): Article 22 refers to refugees. Most children (and many adults) do not differentiate between an immigrant – who has come to make a new life in a new country, and a refugee – someone who has left the home country because of a well-founded fear of danger or persecution. Unlike immigrants, most refugees want to return home when they are no longer under threat and are entitled to support from the government of the country where they have taken refuge. You may also need to explain that people who are forced to leave their homes but remain in their country are not considered refugees but ‘internally-displaced persons’.

The following terms used in the child-friendly version of the CRC may need discussion, both for what they mean and why these concepts are important to human rights. Some terms may have several meanings, not all of which are known to children (e.g. that ‘violence’ can be both physical and psychological,
actual and threatened; that a ‘disability’ can be physical, mental or psychosocial). Other terms may be only vaguely understood and need concrete examples (e.g. ‘exploitation’, ‘culture,’ ‘abuse’, ‘neglect’). Ask the children to provide examples from their own experience. 

When you are introducing children to the CRC, they do not need this level of detailed information. As they become more familiar with human rights,  however, look for opportunities to refine their understanding or correct misunderstandings when you observe them. Keep an eye out for the “teachable moment”.

Read more about Selecting activities >>