Activity 2: We are all born free (adapted from We Are All Born Free – Amnesty.uk)
Why we like it: Students have been introduced to the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, but often have questions about adult rights. This activity
introduces students to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from which the
UNCRC was based. This is for all people.
What you will need: Copies of the UNCRC Child Friendly Poster, Printed Copies
of the We are Born Free Activity 6 PPP, ability to show video and PPP in class.
How long: 15 minutes or 40 minutes if writing optional short story
How it works:
- Introduction – Remind students that the UNCRC exists and let them know that it
was built on an older international agreement that was born out of the
challenges faced by all nations after World War II. If you have done a Unit on
Remembrance Day, you can link it to this. After WWII, a new organisation was
created, the United Nations. Its role was to stop wars between nations and
create a better world. One of their first actions was to draft the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 that set out human rights for all and asked
nations to protect these rights for their people. More conventions on human
rights came for different groups, like women, people with disabilities, people
deprived of their liberty, migrants and their families, but in 1989 one was
created specifically to protect children, i.e. the UNCRC. - Watch Everybody – We are all born free (4:18 min).
- In pairs – ask students to discuss the video and name the rights they
remember. Review the core rights in the We are Born Free Activity 6
PowerPoint Presentation. Ask
students to name the rights that are most important to children and see are
with the CRC by looking at the Child Friendly UNCRC Poster. - Optional – Write a Story – Hand out copies of the illustrations on the slides in
the We Are All Free Activity 6 PPP so that each pair/trio has one. Ask the
students to read the page and then imagine they are one of the characters on
the page. Ask them to write a short story about their experiences related to a
human right as the character on the page. Make sure they include some of the
words in one of the UDHR or UNCRC articles! Once the story is written, ask the
students to share their stories with the other students who have the same right
and reflect on what was similar or different about their stories.
Reflection:
- What rights are the same for children and adults?
- What would be different if we did not have these rights?
Links: