violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

4tions, including of their teachers, to relate theirown experiences, and to express their own feelingsand ideas as part of the learning process. Forexample, in South Africa, the Curriculum 2005programme emphasises flexible teaching methodsthat encourage and accommodate children’sactive participation in learning experiences andhelps them develop critical thinking skills. 213From 1998 to 2004, the Special Rapporteuron the Right to Education collaboratedwith UNESCO to produce the Manual onRights-based Education: Global Human RightsRequirements Made Simple. 214 It states that thechild has both a right to education and rightsin education. This means that schools have toprotect the rights of their students, and alsoteach them how to respect the rights of others.The rights-based approach to education makeseducation the very foundation of the longtermcampaign against violence of all kinds,including violence against children. Childrenraised in schools free of violence and taughtto respect the rights of everyone to live in violence-freeenvironments are the best hope for aviolence-free future.In the USA, for example, an NGO called TheCommittee for Children has developed threesets of curricula – Second Step, Steps to Respectand Talking about Touching – designed to givechildren the knowledge and skills necessaryto prevent bullying, sexual abuse and otherforms of violence. These sets aim to help childrenstand up for themselves, talk rather thanfight, and think about issues from others’ perspectives.A 1997 assessment of the impactsof Second Step in more than 10,000 elementaryschools in Canada and the USA foundthat it had decreased aggressive behaviour andincreased positive social behaviour in classrooms,playgrounds and cafeterias. 215Some sensitive issues might best be addressedin a wider context. When asked their opinionabout how best to address sexual abuse,for example, children in Canada, Columbia,Bangladesh, Brazil, Mozambique, Nepal,Nicaragua, Romania, Rwanda, South Africa,Spain, Syria, and Uganda said that the subjectof sexual abuse should be raised in the contextof learning about children’s rights andchild protection, rather than singled out onits own. 216,217 A feature of effective life skillsbasededucation is that the teaching and learningmethods are interactive and allow childrento share their ideas. Effective life skills educationoften involves children in addressing realissues in their own schools and contributing tothe development of policies and programmes.Creating safe and welcomingphysical spacesA number of studies have asked children tomap danger or safety zones in their schoolsand school playgrounds and these have pinpointedareas where girls feel unsafe, such asareas where boys congregate or where maleteachers who sexually harass them have theirclassrooms. 218,219,220 A study of a high schoolin Durban, South Africa, found that its spaceswere extremely gendered. There were manyprivate spaces for boys, where they were leftalone and transgressions such as smoking weretolerated, and for male teachers, who declared151Violence against children in schools and educational settings