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Human rights principles are not platitudes; they must be honoured, because thousands have died for them.

Peter Fraser 1944

Bullying is never far from the headlines -- understandably as it represents one of the most common assaults on dignity and rights. How can schools best safeguard young people's rights to safety, education, effective remedy and fair treatment?

During 2008-10 the Office of the Children's Commissioner (a partner in the Human Rights in Education initiative) reviewed the literature on bullying in schools and published two reports:

OCC concluded that only programmes that alter the whole school environment, culture and ethos are effective in addressing bullying. Schools committed to human rights-based education develop a learning community in which the rights and responsibilities of all are known, promoted, explored and lived. Their culture minimises the incidence of bullying, and their processes for handling the bullying that does occur ensure fair treatment for all concerned, particularly the most vulnerable.

The following advice for schools is taken from the OCC reports:

For further advice and tools visit

 

Students take the lead at Motueka High School

Students led human rights initiatives at Motueka High School, with the support of senior staff, since they volunteered for a workshop before the beginning of term 1 2009. A revised code of conduct and discipline policy were their major priorities. More 

Bluestone School -- a year on

A year after joining the Human Rights in Education initiative, the principal of Bluestone School (Timaru) observed that there had an improvement in classroom and school atmosphere, higher personal expectations regarding behaviour and a reduction in bullying and the need for school rules. More 

UN Declaration on right to know about human rights

‘Everyone has the right to know, seek and receive information about all human rights and fundamental freedoms and should have access to human rights education’, according to article 1 of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training adopted on 19 Dec 2011. More 

Tackling bullying

Bullying is never far from the headlines -- understandably as it represents one of the most common assaults on dignity and rights. How can schools best safeguard young people's rights to safety, education, effective remedy and fair treatment? More 

HRiE Forum

Participation is essential to the development of this Initiative – and is one of the human rights principles we live by! This is the key collaboration space for Human Rights in Education. Here you will find colleagues’ ideas and experiences in implementing human rights-based education. More
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