Christie Learns About Human Rights

[Christie and her aunt, dancing and learning together...]

My 10 y.o. niece, Christie, just received a praise from her teacher and classmates at Binus School for her paper assignment about Children's Right. This assignment was part of her study about human rights...so it's not only her aunt learns and works on human rights issues, but she is also would love to find out more about it...this is one of many other things that I loved about my niece, her interest and her passion to learn about new things, new issues, and to know it deeper.... 

Here is what she wrote about ! 

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A.  Introduction

As what I have learned from my study and specially from my family, that all children and young people up to the age of 18 years have all the rights to make sure that they are treated fairly and their needs are met. As I browsed from the internet that every child in the world have been entitled to specific rights such as:

• The right to life, survive and development
• The right to have their views respected, and to have their best interests considered at all times
• The right to a name and nationality, freedom of expression, and access to information concerning them
• The right to live in a family environment or alternative care, and to have contact with both parents wherever possible
• Health and welfare rights, including rights for disabled children, the right to health and health care, and social security
• The right to education, leisure, culture and the arts
• Special protection for children from sexual, violence, criminal and other forms of child’s exploitation

B.   My Insights

As a ten years old child, I am feeling lucky and blessed that my parents and extended family are very supportive to what I need. I have risen up with very good support for my basic needs such as good education, good food, good house, and freedom to express what I feel, what I like or what I do not like.

Unfortunately I also see from my daily life that still many of my peers and friends are not having the same good life as I have. During on my way to school every morning, I saw many street children need to sell newspaper or magazine, and some must sing a song just to have a one thousand rupiah. Many of them are living on the street, sleeping below the highway bridge in Jakarta city. There are also another children living nearby our house that still can not continue their study on this year, because as my parent said, that they are poor family and can not pay school tuition for their children. While some of friends told me that sometimes their parent used to slap them or shouting on them, especially when my friend made a mistake. My daddy said that a child should be free from any physical abuse, including from their parent, and this is part of a child’s human right.

C.  Conclusion

Childhood is should be a period of time of innocence of a child, a time free of responsibility and conflict, and a time dominated by play and learns. I think it is important that every adult people understand this, and not only school children like me need to learn about what is Children’s Rights. I hope that all adult people can also understand and treat fairly their children, and equipped their children’s need with the best that they can do. A child must be raise up with love and care, and it actually does not require a lot of money. It just requires your sincerity to love your children and respect them!