Overview

This lesson empowers students to become advocates for children’s rights by exploring key principles and challenges. Beginning with an overview of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, students will dive into the fundamental rights and protections afforded to children globally. They will then examine the top threats to childhood, gaining insight into the complex issues affecting children’s well-being in Canada. This leads to exploring the need for a Children’s Charter in Canada and an introduction to the Canadian Children’s Charter. 

By the end, students will be well-informed supporters of children’s rights, equipped with the knowledge to continue reflecting on issues in their communities and how they can bring about positive change. 

Lesson goals:

In this lesson, students will learn:

• The significance and impacts of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
• What the top 10 threats to childhood in Canada are
• The reasons why Canada needs a children’s charter
• How the Canadian Children’s Charter was developed and its importance

Keywords

Canadian Children’s Charter: A document outlining the fundamental rights and principles to protect and promote the well-being of children across Canada. 

Charter of Rights: The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms sets out those rights and freedoms that Canadians believe are necessary in a free and democratic society. The Charter is one part of the Canadian Constitution. The Constitution is a set of laws containing the basic rules about how our country operates.

Child: Any person under the age of 18.

Citizen: A person who is a member of a particular country and who has rights because of being born there or because of being given rights, or a person who lives in a particular town or city.

Human Rights: The basic rights and freedoms that belong to every person in the world, from birth until death. These basic rights are based on shared values like dignity, fairness, equality, respect and independence. These values are defined and protected by law.

Threat: A person or thing likely to cause damage or danger.

Treaty: A binding formal agreement, contract, or other written instrument that establishes obligations between two or more subjects of international law (primarily states and international organizations).

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: The world’s most widely ratified human rights treaty in history. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (commonly abbreviated as the CRC or UNCRC) is a human rights treaty which sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children.

United Nations: An international organization of countries set up in 1945, in succession to the League of Nations, to promote international peace, security and cooperation.

References

Children First Canada. (2017). Raising Canada: Get Ready For Young Canadians’ Parliament. http://bit.ly/RasingCanadaToolkit

Children First Canada. (2018). The Canadian Children’s Charter A Call to Action to Respect, Protect and Fulfil the Rights of Canada’s Children Final Version. https://childrenfirstcanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/CCCFinalRelease.pdf 

Children First Canada. (2022). Canadian Children’s Charter. https://childrenfirstcanada.org/campaign/canadian-childrens-charter/ 

Children First Canada. (2023). Raising Canada https://childrenfirstcanada.org/raising-canada

Children First Canada. (2023). Top 10 Threats to Childhood In Canada. https://childrenfirstcanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Raising-Canada-2023_V1d.pdf 

Metcalfe, A. (2018, September 18). Why Canada needs a ‘Children’s Charter.’ The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/why-canada-needs-a-childrens-charter-103206