Barnasáttmáli Sameinuðu þjóðanna er alþjóðlegur mannréttindasamningur sem snertir börn. Sáttmálinn felur í sér viðurkenningu á að börn þarfnist sérstakrar verndar umfram fullorðna og á að tryggja börnum vernd gegn ofbeldi, tækifæri og áhrifamátt. Fræðimenn telja að sá réttur barna sem eigi hvað mest undir högg að sækja varði lýðræðisákvæði hans. Meðal annars er algengt að ákvarðanir sem tengjast málefnum barna séu teknar án samráðs við þau. Síaukin áhersla er lögð á réttindi og þátttöku barna en til að tryggja réttindi þeirra í samræmi við sáttmálann er mikilvægt að allir; börn og fullorðnir, þekki til hans. Fyrir árið 2030 eiga öll sveitarfélög hér á landi að hafa hafið markvissa innleiðingu Barnasáttmálans og er ein leið til þess að nýta hugmyndafræði svonefnds réttindaskóla. Samkvæmt rannsóknum getur innleiðing sáttmálans haft jákvæð áhrif á skólastarf í heild sinni og aukið þekkingu barna á réttindum sínum. Markmið rannsóknarinnar er að varpa ljósi á reynslu og þekkingu barna á lýðræðislegri þátttöku og ávinning af fræðslu í skólum um Barnasáttmálann. Tekin voru rýnihópaviðtöl við 43 börn úr 4. og 8. bekk fjögurra skóla á Akureyri og í Eyjafjarðarsveit. Helstu niðurstöður sýna að þátttakendur virðast kunna skil á innihaldi þeirra réttinda sem Barnasáttmálinn veitir og er skilningur þeirra almennt góður. Börn í réttindaskóla höfðu fengið meiri fræðslu sem skilaði sér í auknum skilningi. Þrátt fyrir góða viðleitni í skólastarfi til að auka þátttöku nemenda í ákvörðunum virtist hún í sumum tilfellum einungis fela í sér táknræna þátttöku þeirra. Álykta má að fræðsla sé forsenda þess að innleiðing Barnasáttmálans njóti velgengni og er von okkar að þessi rannsókn stuðli að jákvæðara viðhorfi til skoðana og þátttöku barna.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is an internationalhuman rights agreement concerning children. It embodies the idea that every childshould be recognised, respected, and protected as a rights holder and a unique andvaluable human being. All rights are important and cannot be taken away.According to article twelve in the UNCRC, children have the right to give their opinionsfreely on issues that affect them, and adults should listen and take children seriously.Scholars believe that article twelve is the most tenuous children’s right. Research showsthat most children do not know their rights and do not necessarily voice them asadults do. Despite that, decisions relating to children’s matters are often made withoutconsulting with them.Increasing emphasis is placed on the rights and participation of children. Still, to ensuretheir rights under the convention, it is important that everyone, children, and adults, knowabout it. By 2030, all local authorities in Iceland should have started the implementationof the UNCRC. One way is to use UNICEF’s concept of Rights Respecting School. ARight Respecting School is a community where children’s rights are learned, taught,practised, respected, protected, and promoted. According to research, the implementationof the UNCRC does have a positive effect on all aspects of school life; children becomemore engaged in school decision-making. In addition, research shows that children havemore positive attitudes toward diversity in society.This study aims to shed light on children’s experience and knowledge of democraticparticipation and to research the benefits of education about UNCRC in schools.Participants in the study were 43 students in 4th and 8th grade, attending four primaryschools in Akureyri and Eyjafjarðarsveit, who participated in focus group interviewsconsisting of 5–6 in each group. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data byreading, rereading, and systematically coding interviews. This analysis revealed twothemes: knowledge of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child andthe children’s experience of creating a class agreement.The main results of this study are that when participants are taught the content of therights granted by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and seem to understandit. The children participating did not always understand where their knowledge camefrom and, in some cases, had difficulty putting their thoughts into words. From theirpoint of view, all children, regardless of circumstances and abilities, should be equaland therefore equally important. Participants who attended schools that were part ofUNICEF’s Rights Respecting School had a greater understanding of human rights and abetter vocabulary to explain terms related to children’s rights. Also, students in 4th gradecould distinguish between their rights and privileges.Every fall, each class in all the schools creates a class agreement, but how the agreementis implemented varies by class and school. Children in 4th grade, regardless of school,and in 8th grade in the Right Respecting School felt their voices were heard regardingthe class agreement. Meanwhile, the children in 8th grade who were not in the RightRespecting School felt their thoughts and opinions were not respected.It can be concluded that education is the foundation for implementing the UNCRC.Therefore, everyone must know children’s rights so their voices can be given weightwithin society.
