LEARNERS RIGHTS
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has become the most rapidly ratified human rights document in history, however there are two countries who have yet to ratify this treaty: Somalia and the United States of America. The United States had a hand in the creation of this document and even signed it during the convention, so why would we not adopt it into our government?
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What it comes down to is a lot of misinformation on how ratifying the document will affect the country, children, and parents. Many who oppose see ratifying the document as leading the way for children to have the right to oppose their parents. In other words, parents believe that this document will undermine their rights as parents. Not only that, many believe that this document is too constricting and that our government is already doing and implementing laws for these rights so there is no need for us to ratify it. However, even with the thought that the United States is a leader in child's rights, it has been found to be untrue. The United States may believe itself to be ahead of the game and that many of the issues addressed in the document do not affect us, but studies have found that to be untrue. Especially when it comes to the right to an education. Although in the US, every student has access to an education, that education has been found to be inequitable depending on where a student lives and studies have even found that the education provided itself does not meet the rights and needs of learners as it should.
It is important to keep in mind learner’s rights when creating education policies and curriculum. Knowing what each learner deserves to know and creating opportunities and initiatives that will ultimately create more equity and close the growing education gap in our country can all come from understanding and implementing policies that work to fulfill their rights as a learner.