Human Rights at School

For most children and young people, schools are the first social institution encountered in their development. School education plays a vital role in educating students about their responsibilities and rights within their community, partly through carrying over these rights into the school community. However, examples of the effective removal of basic human rights from students within this environment continue to arise in both public and private schools. Examples of these include:

• procedurally unfair school suspensions and exclusions;
• drug abuse strategies involving breaches of privacy;
• bullying and school violence generally;
• discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity, sexual preference, or disability; and
• powers to search and confiscate that may even exceed existing police powers.

The NCYLC has been a strong advocate for human rights within school education, within its casework, policy development and campaigns. The Centre has lobbied and supported schools in all sectors in relation to maintaining and respecting the rights of students. The various launches of the Know Your Rights at School kits were coupled with campaigns promoting the need to respect the rights of students, and ensuring student participation in decision-making where reasonable. Further, the Centre encourages and engages in rights education for students.

The NCYLC is committed to ensuring that Australian schools remain an environment that sets examples of rights and responsibilities in action, and that these are implemented within the school community.