General Rights and Responsibilities
Everyone has rights! A right is the way i have to be treated (or things i must have) to make sure i am treated fairly. If you are living away from home you have the right to be treated with respect which means:
I have the right
- Not to be hit or hurt.
- To be listened to.
- To expect people to care about how i feel.
- To be myself.
- To be told the truth.
- To make mistakes.
- To make up my own mind.
- To have fun & play games or sports I enjoy.
- To complain if i am unhappy about something.
If you do not have any of these rights then you are not being looked after properly.
Your rights are written down in the law for example the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, the Human Rights Act 1998, the Standards in Scotlandís Schools etc. Act 2000 and in other documents such as government reports, national care standards and the policies and guidance written by your council.
An important document on your rights is the united nations convention on the rights of the child (uncrc) (link), and the government has promised to use this when planning & providing services for children. The key rights for you with the uncrc come under three main areas:
- Protection rights (to be safe)
- Provision rights (to be well looked after)
- Participation rights (to have your say and be listened to)
What are Resonsibilities?
To make sure all children have rights everyone has responsibilities. This means that I have to try to treat other people with respect. This means:
- Not to hit or hurt other people.
- To listen to other people.
- To take care of other people's feelings.
- Not to make people feel bad for being different from me.
- To tell the truth.
Back to the Children's Rights Service home page.