Glossary Term Selection
Key Facts
Assignments
Useful Websites
Everyone deserves to be treated fairly and to have their basic needs met – food, safety, education, care, and love. These are not rewards for good behaviour or things you have to earn. They are rights. Rights are rules and promises that protect people and help everyone live with dignity. They exist so that no one is ignored, mistreated, or left behind.
Human rights are a set of basic things that all people need to live in dignity. We all have human rights whoever we are and whatever we have done.
Human rights exist to make sure that we are treated properly and fairly, and are given the freedom to develop to our full potential.
Article 1 (definition of the child)
Everyone under the age of 18 has all the rights in the Convention.
Article 2 (non-discrimination)
The Convention applies to every child without discrimination, whatever their ethnicity, sex, religion, language, abilities or any other status, whatever they think or say, whatever their family background.
In the industrialised countries of the early twentieth century, there were no standards of protection for children. It was common for them to work alongside adults in unsanitary and unsafe conditions. Growing recognition of the injustices of their situation, propelled by greater understanding of the developmental needs of children, led to a movement to better protect them.
In England, a child is a person under the age of 18 years.
As you go through childhood, you gain new rights, freedoms and responsibilities. Below we tell you about some of the main ones. Please get in touch if we’ve not covered something that matters to you.
Childism is the pro-child movement fighting against adultism, a set of societal prejudices against children. Through these prejudices, adults see children as property they can control or remove from the home to serve their needs and whims – rather than as human beings deserving of equal treatment.
Children’s rights are fundamental human rights created especially for people under the age of 18. They are designed to make sure children are protected, educated, healthy, and listened to as they grow and develop. These rights are set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which recognises that every child deserves to be safe, to learn, to play, and to live free from discrimination.
Child rights need protecting everywhere, both across the world and within our own local communities. Children and young people do not always have power over decisions that affect their lives, which is why these rights matter so much. A youth ambassador is someone who believes in fairness, speaks up for others, and helps make sure young voices are heard.
Rights are not distant rules written by adults and locked away in official documents. They are protections that shape everyday life, from what happens in school to how young people are treated at home, online, and in healthcare settings. Knowing your rights helps you understand what you should expect from others and what to do if something feels unfair, unsafe, or wrong. Rights exist to help young people feel respected, protected, and heard.
There are three things you need to know about how the Human Rights Act works:
One
The Human Rights Act puts a legal duty on public authorities and officials to respect and protect your rights in everything they do.
You don’t need a lawyer to use the Human Rights Act. You can raise the issue about your care or treatment directly with service providers.
Public authorities like a local authority or the NHS must respect your human rights. If you think a public authority has breached your human rights, you may be able to take action under the Human Rights Act 1998.
Doomscrolling, clout culture, misinformation, online radicalisation, and data privacy: These are just some items from a long list of concerns surrounding the use of social media in 2025. Recent cultural reflections, such as Netflix’s Adolescence and the Social Dilemma, underscore the increasingly complex role that digital platforms play in adolescent development.
I’m Molly Taylor, a part-time Master’s student in International Child Rights and Development. I never imagined studying a Master’s – let alone specialising in children’s rights – but my lived experiences of injustice and having my rights violated naturally led me into advocacy and social action from a young age.
The UK is introducing new legislation to stop AI from generating synthetic child sexual abuse material at its source.
Animals have more rights than children when it comes to smacking, the Children’s Commissioner has said.
Dame Rachel de Souza is supporting a campaign, backed by celebrities, to persuade Sir Keir Starmer to ban smacking in England, a move that would bring it into line with Wales and Scotland.
Across the world, a number of young people – known as the Gen Z movement – are taking to the streets and fighting for their rights. In Madagascar, they’re protesting chronic water shortages and power cuts. In Peru, the right to therapeutic abortions is under threat. And in Indonesia, young people are raising their voices against the resurgence of authoritarian practices.
A coalition of more than 120 charities and organisations working with children has called on Ministers to make children’s rights a statutory duty, warning that England is falling behind Wales, Scotland and other nations in embedding children’s rights into law and policymaking.
On Wednesday 4th June 2025 the Government announced the expansion of free school meals to all families in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. This means 500,000 more children will be entitled to a meal every school day. This is a huge step forward in tackling child food poverty and ensuring children have the food they need to thrive at school.
Throughout my time as Children’s Commissioner, I have heard from a million children and young people about their hopes, ambitions, and concerns. An issue which frequently comes up in these conversations is how young people can spend time online safely and protect themselves from distressing or harmful content.
There’s nothing more beautiful than the way a child believes the biggest dreams, the most outlandish endeavours and the truest intentions are all possible. But childhood can be a fragile thing, and too many children are robbed of this basic freedom and their innocence. Here are 10 important facts about child protection and how sponsorship is an important part of the foundations for so many kids.
