What are child rights?

JACK: I am landing on Mars. Weehee! Pew-pew-pew-pew-pew! I am coming to invade and you cannot stop me.

RUBY: Hello! Is that my brother Jack? Or have the robots taken over again?

JACK: Ruby, I am going to shrink you with my shrink ray.

RUBY: You can’t do that. It’s against my rights.

JACK: Right? What if I use my left hand?

RUBY: No, no, Jack. Rights aren’t about right or left hands. We learned about it at school today. Rights are things people need to live a full life.

JACK: You mean 'full' like after you eat too much birthday cake?

RUBY: No, silly. A full life means being able to be happy and healthy. Like having healthy food, not having to drink water with yucky stuff in it.

JACK: Why would you drink water with yucky stuff in it?

RUBY: In some places, it’s hard to find clean water. And if you drink the yucky water, it might make you sick. And, if you can’t go to the doctor, you might die.

JACK: Hey, that’s not fair!

RUBY: Exactly! Every child around the world has the right to live a safe, healthy life, no matter who they are, where they grow up, what they believe, or anything like that.

JACK: You mean like believing in robots?

RUBY: Well, I don’t know about robots. Beliefs are different to imaginary games. Do you know my friend Charlie? His family believe in something called the Dreamtime.  

JACK: Dream time? Hmm. You mean like when you go to sleep?

RUBY: No, silly. Dreamtime is their beliefs about the land and how it was created. Charlie’s family have the right to believe in that. And we need to respect other people’s beliefs.

JACK: Does respect include teasing? Because sometimes other kids tease me about my robot suit.

RUBY: Yes, teasing is not kind. And kids have the right to be protected and treated fairly.

JACK: So you can’t tease me if I believe a giant robot protects me?

RUBY: Well, our rights are also protected by our parents and the government, you know.

JACK: That doesn’t sound as cool.

RUBY: It’s really cool! All the governments around the world have made a special agreement to protect children. And they wrote it all down. It’s called the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

JACK: The what, what?

RUBY: The Convention on the Rights of the Child. A convention is like a promise. It’s a good thing. It means that adults make sure we are free to be healthy, play and get to go to school.

JACK: Hmm. Go to school? Huh? [music] I think I like the sound of these rights. And right now, I’m going to use my right to play! Pew-pew-pew!

RUBY: Arrgh!

© UNICEF