Sometimes it seems like adults get to tell kids how to do everything. But you DO have rights. The two books below can help you understand how some big important government documents really can impact YOUR everyday life -- and the lives of kids all over the world.
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A Kid's
Guide to America's Bill of Rights by Kathleen Krull published by Avon 226 pages |
What does the Bill of Rights have to do with YOU?
Well, do you write for the school newspaper? Have you read Harry Potter? Do you like to go to the mall?
Did you answer Yes to any of those questions? Check out what the Bill of Rights can do for YOU!...
If you did answer Yes to any of these questions, you should understand that even though the Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments to the US Constitution) is only a mere 462 words, it CAN affect your life on a daily basis even if you don't know it. The Bill of Rights addresses issues of personal freedom that affect: what sort of articles your school newspaper can run, whether books can be banned because adults think they encourage kids to become witches, and whether or not you can hang in the mall after 7 PM.
And very often, court cases that test the Bill of Rights start with kids just like you.
Fourteen-year-old Deborah Weisman
objected to prayer at her junior high school graduation, arguing that she had
the right to keep religion out of her public school.
Thirteen-year-old Mary Beth Tinker
wore a black armband to school to protest US involvement in the Vietnam War,
based on her right to express her opinion.
A Kid's Guide to America's Bill of Rights by Kathleen Krull clearly explains the basics AND gives you great examples of what it all really means to you!
Which amendment passed by Congress on June 4, 1919 and ratified on August 18, 1920 gave women the right to vote?
Find out how children all around the world are struggling for their rights...
Stand Up
For Your Rights
A Peace Child International Project
published by World Book Encyclopedia
96 pages
Dear Diary -- The soldiers came to the house and I had to hide. Never in my life have I felt so much fear. I crouched in a small cupboard under the stairs.
Sounds like Anne Frank during World War ll doesn't it? It was actually written in 1997 by a young Kurdish refugee who had to leave her home in Turkey because of her family's heritage.
She tells her story in, Stand Up For Your Rights, a book about human rights written by and for the young people of the world. It explains the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was signed by 170 governments in 1948.
Many of the rights in the Declaration are similar to the ones in the US Bill of Rights but some are different. Unfortunately, it is still important to remind people in some countries that kids have the right to go to school. (This may sound silly but it's not if you're doing backbreaking work in the fields all day instead.) And that nobody has the right to make a slave of anyone.
Throughout the book, artwork, poetry and stories by young people bring the issues to life. Stand Up For Your Rights introduces readers to human rights around the world and to the heroes and heroines of the struggle. Read about people like Eleanor Roosevelt and Nelson Mandela, AND learn about the amazing courage of kids like the 10-year-old boy from India who escaped after six years of forced factory labor to argue for the rights of others just like him.
| Links to other sites of interest
Peace Child International is looking for you to help with some interesting projects about human rights and the world environment. Interested? Check it out! The ACLU Student Home Page has information on your rights in school and a place for you to send any questions you might have. The United Nations has a great site for kids to explore The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. |