Rights? What rights?

In Northern Ireland, young males have less confidence in the administration of justice, are more ambivalent about the use of violence and are less involved in civic life than their female counterparts. There is also some evidence of important differences between young people from different religious and cultural backgrounds.

These are some of the conclusions of a recent study by Alan Smith and Ursula Birthistle of the School of Education in the University of Ulster, who surveyed 108 14-year-olds and 106 16-yearolds. It was part of a larger study of youth understanding of human rights issues in Botswana, India and Zimbabwe as well as Northern Ireland.

Issues reviewed included law and the administration of justice, equality of opportunity, the teaching of history, civic rights and responsibilities as well as violence, gender and education around human rights. Overall, the study reveals that young people have some appreciation of many of the key ideas associated with human rights, though few recognised them under this term. While there appeared to be little difference between the attitudes and understandings of the different age groups, significant differences were noted by gender and, to a lesser extent, in terms of religious affiliation. For example, more negative attitudes with regard to the administration of justice appear to be held by older boys, especially those from more disadvantaged urban areas from both sides of the religious and political divide. References to a range of values such as mutual understanding, honesty and respect were made more often by girls, whereas references to the right to protest, weapons and the need for defence were made more often by boys.

As regards the teaching of history, higher percentages of young people from Protestant backgrounds objected to the teaching of "colonialism" as being "wrong" and preferred it being presented in the context of "settlement and plantation". The highest percentage (62 per cent) of young people "disagreeing or strongly disagreeing" that violence is "never" necessary came from those with a rural, Protestant background. A majority of pupils (64 per cent) agreed with the use of "necessary force" by the police, though there were significant differences by age and gender with more supporting such force among Protestants surveyed. The "right to life" was considered most important by pupils, especially girls and those from a Catholic background. Interestingly, more young people described their identity more in personal terms than in terms of religion, nationality or culture. Overall, there were high levels of support for the importance of voting, paying taxes, knowing what the government is doing and of the necessity to support social policies. In general, somewhat more importance was attached to these by the older age group. However, fewer pupils were able to make positive suggestions for the strengthening of rights - apart from some awareness that making one's opinions heard by government through lobbying, campaigning or demonstrating might prove helpful.

Alan Smith, one of the report's authors, concludes: "Our research seems to confirm that human rights education is not well integrated into the Northern Ireland schools and needs to be strengthened in a systematic and coherent way. Part of the problem is better definition of the underlying concepts and how these fit within the overall curriculum framework. Our experiences, through development projects such as Speak Your Piece and Let's Talk, suggest the importance of methodologies that involve genuine dialogue and the recognition that participants draw on their own biography and experience to make sense of human rights concepts. "Human rights education engages the emotions as well as the intellect. This presents a huge challenge for those involved in the training and professional development of educators. It is unlikely that teachers will be effective human rights educators unless they have gone through a personal development process which challenges their own values."