Description

Children’s Rights Assembly – based on the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child

Children’s Rights Assembly – based on the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child script was requested by a teacher for a class of refugee children so the language is deliberately simple – the message fairly direct.

Cast of 30

In this script, the Narrator’s part is taken by the class’s actual teacher.

Additional Material

I came across these two poems in The Works Volumes I & II – a compilation of poems put together by Brian Moses and Pie Corbett. The words, I think, are particularly poignant and appropriate to this subject but I leave their inclusion to the teacher – as an addition to the script.

·         Let No One Steal Your Dreams – Paul Cookson (5 verses, 21 lines)

·         It Hurts – John Foster (3 verses, 4 lines each – 12)

Duration 10 – 20 minutes

Around 10 minutes reading time. This does not include the two poems above, the addition of which will take assembly to around 15 minutes. Neither does this include any music (beginning and end) so total duration could be around 20 minutes.

Sample Text:

Child 17:               Let’s start with, our right to live!

Narrator:             (Laughing) Sounds reasonable!

(Whole cast shake their heads)

Child 17:               There really is nothing to laugh about.

Narrator:             Oh, I’m sorry. I meant no disrespect. It just seemed so (pauses) obvious.

Child 17:               Nothing in this document is ‘obvious’ and none of it should be taken for granted.

Child 18:               This document talks about how we should expect to live – and there are many children who are deprived of these rights.

Narrator:             These rights being?

Child 19:               Well, every child has the right to a name.

Narrator:             You mean an identity, an official record of who you are?

Child 19:               Correct.

Child 20:               Every child has the right to a nationality

Child 21:               A culture

Child 22:               A language

Child 23:               A religion

Narrator:             And I suppose the freedom to practise all of those?

Child 24:               Correct. It doesn’t matter

Child 25:               Who you are

Child 26:               Where you live

Child 27:               What your parents do

Child 28:               Whether you’re a boy or a girl

Child 29:               Whether you have a disability or not

Child 30:               Whether you are rich or poor

Whole cast:        (Together) It doesn’t matter!

Narrator:             You all have the same rights, right?

Whole cast:        (Together) Right!