| Abstrakt: |
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the most widely ratified document of its kind, contains the rights that children have and the responsibilities that the state and adults have towards respecting them. Using a quantitative approach, a randomly selected sample of 577 Grade 9 learners responded to a questionnaire with closed questions which sought to explore the extent to which their rights were being respected by their significant adults. The sample was drawn from independent, public and independently subsidised schools from four Johannesburg educational districts, ranging in age between 13 to 16 years. Data was descriptively analysed using the SPSS 22.0 computer programme and comparatively analysed using gender, age, race and school type to see if any significant statistical differences existed on the basis of these variables and the extent to which children's rights were being respected. The results showed that learners agreed to a large extent that their rights were being respected. However, there were statistically significant differences that were noted in age, population groups and school types in the extent to which they agreed with the factor under investigation. Adopting a social justice theoretical perspective, we emphasise the need for respecting children's rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
