Main Activity
Divide the class into small groups. The students work through these questions in their groups.
1. How would you define 'human rights'?
Something that protects you from being abused by others.
2. What rights do we have?
- Right to life
- Right to a fair trial
- Freedom from torture
- Right to protest
- Freedom from discrimination
- Right to privacy
3. Can you place these rights in order of importance?
4. Where do our rights come from?
Politicians, parents, lawyers, God.
5. How can we change our rights?
By lobbying a politician, by voting, by protesting, by educating people.
6. Who has changed peoples rights in the past? How have they done this?
Martin Luther King, Hitler, Emily Pankhurst, Malcolm X.
7. What would you do if someone violated your rights?
Protest, go to the Press, phone a lawyer.
Extension activity
At what age is someone mature enough to become a soldier?
Plenary
The groups feedback their ideas to the rest of the class.
Focus the discussion on why human rights are necessary and how they should be upheld.
Teachers' Background
- Amnesty International is a worldwide campaigning movement that works to promote the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international standards.
- Children's rights are most fully articulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- The Convention was adopted as an international human rights treaty on 20 November 1989.
- Founded in 1961, Amnesty International has around a million members and supporters in 162 countries and territories.
- Activities range from public demonstrations to letter-writing, from human rights education to fundraising concerts, from individual appeals on a particular case to global campaigns on a particular issue.
For all links and resources click at top right.
Watch Laura Jones' report
Video report:
