PB+ Resources

RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITES

Aim : to recognise that rights always have responsibilities.

Time : 10 - 20 minutes

Materials :

• Copies of the poster of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights or The UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child
• Paper and pens

Introduction:
The first theme of Protective Behaviours is "We all have the right to feel safe all of the time."

What are some rights that are common to all people/children?
(food, home, freedom)

On 10 December 1948, the United Nations issued The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These rights are for all human beings. (Give some examples.) However, not everyone can exercise their rights in the same way because of different circumstances around the world. That does not mean that some people have more rights than others: we all have the same rights, only different opportunities to exercise them.

-Or-

On 20 November 1959, the United Nations issued its Declaration of the Rights of the Child. (Give some examples.) These rights are for all children everywhere. Not all children have these rights fulfilled in their lives. People around the world are working to ensure that children receive their entitlement.

Mahatma Ghandi once identified seven blunders of the world that lead to violence. He wrote about them in a letter to his grandson. Ghandi's grandson added one more that he felt was relevant for our world: Rights without Responsibilities.

Now when we think of the word Rights, we often put alongside it the word Responsibilities. We say that each right has a corresponding responsibility.

Activity : Responsibility Rap
Here are examples of some of the rights that we all have as human beings:

• The right to a name
• The right to be a member of a country
• The right to good food
• The right to housing
• The right to a free education
• The right not to be harmed
• The right to freedom of thought
• The right to freedom of religion
• The right to rest and leisure
• The right to love and understanding

Split into five smaller groups and compose a couple of lines each for a rap that goes " If I enjoy the right to … I have the responsibility to …"

Perform the Responsibility Rap as a whole group.

What responsibility goes with the right to feel safe? (to respect the right of others to feel safe)

Epilogue:
We all have rights and with those rights goes the responsibility to respect the rights of others. People may try to match a specific responsibility to every right, but that is not necessarily the case. The only responsibility each of us has is to respect the rights of others, but even when we violate the rights of others, we do not necessarily forfeit our own rights.

As a society we try to acknowledge that we live in a community of individuals, each of whom has the same rights. We encourage everyone to behave responsibly. The alternative is blame and punishment, which can just lead to a vicious cycle of hurt and more hurt. Accepting responsibility for our own actions is the best way to break the cycle for good.

Possible adaptations or applications to the Church context:
Forgiveness … Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

• What special rights do we have as Christians?
• What responsibilities go with those rights?

 PB+ Documents

• Theological Reflection
• Aide Memoire

• Theme 1
• Theme 2
• Strategy 1
• Strategy 2
• Strategy 3
• Strategy 4
• Strategy 5
• Strategy 6
• Strategy 7
• Creating & Reviewing a Network
• Feelings are Feelings
• Unwritten Rules
• The Safety Continuum
• Finding Our Own Safe Place
• Rights and Responsibilities

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