RIGHTS FOR CHILDREN

Rights for Children

by Jane Scoggins Bauld

Coming of Age Press,1994

SOURCE:The Rights were postulated by Jane Scoggins Bauld, an award winninng Austin Pre-kindergarten teacher for more than thirty years. They are based upon her own personal experiences with children and her endless inspirations from being with them.

NEED:The need for the Rights is eloquently presented in the accompanying preamble to the Rights for Children.

Preamble to Rights for Children

Children are a most vulnerable part of our society. They cannot define their own rights or uphold them, but are dependent on others to do this for them. This proclamation defines rights basic to all childrens' self respect and well being.

The major goal of the Rights for Children is to bring heightened awareness and renewed commitment on the part of adults to become advocates for the child, not in word only, but in attitude and action.

The Rights Proclamation is designed to be a pact between parent and child or teacher/caregiver and children. When the Rights are agreed upon together and are upheld all of the time, they will ensure and preserve the child's dignity. This cannot be done through mandates of government offices. It can only be done when caring adults are willing to take childrens' rights seriously.

When a child's rights are fulfilled there is no need to rebel. As the child becomes aware that his own rights are upheld, that he/she is valued as a person, then he/she can look at peers and siblings and learn to uphold others' rights as well.

When human rights are not violated, there is peace. The children are depending on us!

RECOGNITION:The Rights were originally presented in a ceremony during the National Week of the Young Child,officiated by Austin Major Bruce Todd; the Austin Association for the Education of Young Children President, Gale Spear;Austin Childcare Counsel, Linda Weir; and National Child Advocacy Council member, Jeanette Watson. The Rights were signed by the author and co-signed by each of these dignitaries.

USES:The Rights have been praised by multitudes of teachers and child development professionals and are actively used in many Austin schools as well as in Eanes ,Seguin,San Antonio and Corpus Christi public schools and in New Braunfels parochial schools.The Rights are also in use by such organizations as the state of Texas Department of Human Resources Child Protective Agency, The Travis County Child Advocacy Center,the Childrens' Defense Fund,The University of Texas Child Development Laboratory, The Austin Rape Crisis Center, Any Baby Can , The Duke University Counseling Center, Aldersgate Youth Service Bureau (Willowgrove,PA), and by a number of professional psychologists.

ABOUT THE BOOK:The Rights were originally presented as a proclamation in poster form. In 1994, the Rights were published by Coming of Age Press in both hard and softback book versions. The Rights are presented in three languages, Spanish,English, and French, in the original book. Additional translations are available now in Italian, German, Japanese, Chinese, and Russian. The original edition of the book was completely sold out, and the book is, at present, no longer in print. There are plans to re-publish the book with new illustrations.

RIGHTS POSTER:A beautifulRights for Children Poster is now available from Jane.

UNITED NATIONS BOOK SIGNING:Jane was invited to the UN in New York for a signing of her book Rights for Children. The UN bookstore was one of the most active markets for the books.

Also, please see Jane's other books:

The Summer the Dolls Toured Europe,The Story of Mother Tree, Hector's Excapades,and Parables for Children,Hector Saves the Moon,The Gift of the Gold Coin,Come to the Gathering