Rights and responsibilities
Aim: To consider the rights and responsibilities that we all have. You will need: Pieces of card or paper, pens, large piece of paper. Duration: 30 minutes
Ask the group to brainstorm what rights they think young people have. Write them up onto a large piece of paper.
Divide into groups of 4 or 5. Each group should then select ten rights from the brainstorm and write these onto blank cards.
Explain that with rights come responsibilities, e.g. with the right to a safe environment comes the responsibility to take care of the environment ourselves. If we have the right to respect for our religious beliefs, we also have a responsibility to show respect for the beliefs of others. On another ten cards, ask the groups to write down corresponding responsibilities to the rights they thought of previously. You may like to consider responsibilities you have at different levels - for example responsibilities you have as members of your families, schools, youth groups and communities.
Mix up the 20 cards. Ask groups to swap cards with another group. With the new set, they should try to pair up rights with responsibilities.
Bring the groups back together to discuss any issues raised about the different rights and responsibilities. Consider these questions:
- How do you young people learn about responsibilities?
- Do they have to find out about them on their own or are they taught?
- Do young people everywhere have the same rights and responsibilities?
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child gives the same rights to the children of all countries that have signed up to it - but this does not mean that these rights are always being met.