Lesson 7: Your Rights and Responsibilities
Objectives
- Pupils know their rights as a human being.
- Pupils understand some of the issues that hinder the implementation of these rights.
- Pupils think about how they can introduce Children’s Rights into their lives and communities.
- Explain what Children’s Rights are, who have formulated these rights, where they come from, who is responsible for implementing these rights and acknowledge that every human being in the world has these rights, young people too
- List at least four rights related to sexual and reproductive health for young people
- Give three reasons why Children’s Rights have not yet been fully implemented in Ethiopia
- Describe how rights and responsibilities are related and list two responsibilities
- Acknowledge that all young people, both boys and girls, have the right to education and youth-friendly, non-judgmental health services.
- Argue the importance of Children’s Rights for young people and of standing up for your rights
- Argue that all people, including themselves, have the right to be supported, helped, protected and cared for by their families, the community and the government
- Value and respect their own rights and those of other people
- recognize how these entitlements apply to their own life and community and to act if these entitlements are violated. Skills
- Provide a scenario for how they would defend their rights and advocate their own rights
- Design and creative skills
- Create a short and powerful slogan
- Design a poster and list three elements that can make a poster attractive and effective
- Name two places where they could put up their poster in order to attract people’s attention
- Create a poster by cutting and pasting from newspaper articles, drawing or painting
- Demonstrate how to cut and paste from newspaper articles.
Introduction
The theme of this lesson is Children’s Rights. This means: knowing your rights, respecting other peoples’ rights and supporting rights in the community. The aim of this lesson is for students to become aware of their rights, realize that these rights have been accorded to them by the United Nations, that they are entitled to have these rights and that they feel empowered by these rights. The Pupils are introduced to Children’s Rights by means of a brief presentation. They discuss whether and why they think these rights are not as common as they should be. Pupils are divided into pairs. Each pair chooses one right they believe would benefit their community. They make a poster to advocate this right. This is how you can introduce the lesson to the pupils: ‘This lesson is about Children’s Rights. After this lesson, you will realize that the United Nations has accorded these rights to you. When you know about these rights, you might ask yourself: ‘This is all very well, but what good are they to me when the current situation does not give us young people those rights?’ Well, if you know them, you know what you are entitled to and what you can fight for. You know what all of us – Ethiopia and 190 other countries – are trying to achieve. In a short presentation on Children’s Rights, you will learn about these rights. Then we will discuss why you think these rights are not implemented as well as they should be. After that, it is time to get cracking: together with a classmate, you are going to advocate one of the rights that you feel is very important. Make a poster and go tell the community about it! In brief: know your rights, respect other peoples’ rights and support rights in the community!’
Learning Resources
Teaching Methodologies
In this lesson the teachers and learners will use different active learning methods.
For examples:
- Method 1
- Method2
- Method3
- Method4
Delivery of this lesson will be done with minimum requirement that discussed in the following steps.
Delivery Method
Reflect (some minutes)
Ask a few Pupils whether they have noticed any situations in the past few days in which gender played a positive or negative role.
The best time in my life (warm up – 5 mins)
Aim
- Pupils learn more about each other and share happy memories. How
Step 1. Make all Pupils stand or sit in a circle. Ask the Pupils about the best moment of their lives so far. Depending on time, ask a few or all Pupils to tell something about it.
Children’s Rights Presentation (40 mins)
Aims
- Pupils learn about the rights all human beings are entitled to in the area of reproductive health;
- Pupils feel empowered.
How
Step 1. The Pupils read the presentation in their Pupils Book. Discussion points are included in the presentation. Before continuing with the next slides, Pupils should address these points together.
The presentation covers the following topics:
What is a right?
Where do these rights come from?;
Who are these rights for?;
Why do we have these rights?;
What rights are there and what do they mean?
Rights and responsibilities.
The presentation promotes the Pupils’ awareness of what their rights are and that they should feel responsible for upholding these rights. The presentation concludes with questions to be answered by the entire group in a group discussion. Plan 30 minutes for reading the presentation and 10 minutes for the group discussion.
Poster-making (30 mins).
Aims
Pupils internalize the information on Children’s Rights and consider which of these rights they feel would be beneficial to their community and explain why. Encourage the Pupils to advocate Children’s Rights locally. This exercise should be done using papers and pencils: Show Pupils the information on how to make a poster: Guidelines for making poster: For text The snappier the text, the better. Keep it simple. Think in slogans. For layout to get some ideas, see the examples at the end of the pupils’ book. A good poster is catchy to the eye and easy to read, has a clear and understandable message with convincing arguments and/or slogan. Pupils can also insert symbols, smileys or other kinds of signs that may be appropriate to liven up their posters. You can draw a poster or cut fragments from magazines and make a collection.
How
Step 1. Pupils work in pairs for this exercise. Each pair chooses the right they wish to promote or advocate in their community by making a poster.
Step 2. Pupils write down some reasons why they think this right is so important and try to summarize the most important arguments for this right.
Step 3. Pupils design the best layout for their poster in order to communicate their message most effectively. The poster should fit one A4 page. Pupils make their posters on paper.
Step 4. Pupils can paint or shade their posters.
Discussion, conclusion, and homework (10 mins)
Aim
- Pupils summarize the messages they have learned.
How
- Pupils gather around and look at all the posters that have been made.
- Pupils discuss which poster might be the most effective and explain why they think it is the most effective.
- Pupils suggest places where their posters can be put up for people to see their messages on rights.
- Check whether the places suggested by Pupils for putting up their posters are appropriate.
Homework
Each pupil should note in his/her notebook when Children’s Rights are being abused in his/her community. Pupils should find places where they could hang their posters. Definition of age of consent:
- Age of consent is the age at which a person is legally considered competent to consent to sexual intercourse or have marriage.
- According to the constitution of the Republic of Ethiopia, it’s 18 years.
- Art 31(1) of the constitution: Men and Women of the age of eighteen years and above, have the right to marry and to form a family and are entitled to equal rights in marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
- Definition of rape: according to the Penal code Act,
- Sec 123: Any person unlawful having carnal knowledge (= sexual intercourse) of a woman or a girl, without her consent, or with her consent, if the consent is obtained by force or by means of threats or intimidation of any kind or by fear of bodily harm, or by means of false representation as to the nature of the act, or in the case of a married woman by personating her husband, commits the felony termed.
- Sec 124.Punishment for rape: a person convicted of rape is liable to suffer death.
- Sec 125. Attempt to commit rape: any person who attempts to commit rape, commits a felony and is liable to imprisonment for life with or with out corporal punishment.
- Definition of defilement: defilement refers to unlawfully having sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of eighteen years.
- Punishment for Defilement:
- Sec 129 of the Penal code Act Defilement of a girl under the age of eighteen:
- Any person who unlawfully has sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of eighteen years commits an offence and is liable to suffer death.
- Any person who attempts to have unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of eighteen years commits an offence and is liable to imprisonment for eighteen years with or without corporal punishment.
- Definition of abortion: abortion is an intentional removal of unborn fetus from the mothers’ womb before nine months at which a child is expected.
- The constitution prohibits this practice and it states that:
- Art 22. No person shall be deprived of life intentionally except in execution of a sentence passed in a fair trial by a court of competent jurisdiction in respect of a criminal offence under the laws and the conviction and sentence have been confirmed by the highest appellate court.
- No person has the right to terminate the life of unborn child except as may be authorized by law. Inheritance and Harmful Traditional Cultural Practices. The articles below from the constitution Equal inheritance of property by both males and females and are also against harmful traditional practices
- Art 33. Women shall be accorded full and equal dignity of the persons as with men.
- (4) Women shall have the right to equal treatment with men and that right shall include equal opportunities in political, economic and social activities.
- (6) Laws, cultures, customs or traditions which are against the dignity, welfare or interest of a woman or which undermine their status, are prohibited by this constitution.
- Article 32. Notwithstanding anything in this constitution, the state shall take affirmative action in favor of groups marginalized on the basis of gender, age, disability or any other reasons created by history, tradition or custom, for the purpose of redressing imbalances which exist against them. Parliament shall make relevant laws, including laws for the establishment of an equal opportunities commission for the purpose of giving full effect to clause (1) of this article.