Happy Day of the Child!
Know how kids ask moms and dads on their holidays, “when’s Children’s Day?” And parents say, “Every day is Children’s Day!” Well, it shouldn’t be a well-kept secret that November 20th is actually World Children’s Day! Kids are really worth celebrating…and childhood is something we must care for universally.
November 20th was chosen by the United Nations to commemorate the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of the Child in 1959, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.
UNICEF offers a kid-friendly version of that vital document, (which has yet to be ratified by the United States), a video you can watch with your children, crucial conversation starters, and more on its World Childrens Day page.
One of our publishing partners, Spiraling Music, just released the script and score of a children’s musical that highlights this visionary document. Please share this special discount with anyone you know who might be looking for theater projects for youngsters.
Below is an excerpt from the book, reprinted with permission of the publisher:
Introduction
100 years ago, before there was a United Nations (1942) or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the League of Nations adopted the Geneva Declaration on the Rights of the Child, which basically stated that humanity “owes to the Child the best that it has to give.” This 1924 declaration articulates that children need priority, protection, and a dignified upbringing. The UN adopted this declaration in 1959, but the idea got real teeth in 1989, when it became the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a convention being different from a declaration in that it moves from being an ideal to being the law. For the past 35 years now, the world has begun the process of making sure children are legally protected everywhere in the world.
There are 41 rights listed in the CRC, many of them (like the right to identity, nationality, and freedom from discrimination) echoing the UDHR. Some of them are very specific to children, such as Article 27, which states that children have the right to food, clothing and a safe home. Articles 12 and 13 that say children have the right to express their views. Article 42 states that everyone needs to know what the rights of children are.
Author and composer Merrill Collins took these mandates to heart when she and her collaborator, Fredrick Gums, who were running an arts program for kids to teach concepts in Peace, created this poignant children’s musical. They wrote it with children, in the voices of children, for audiences of children, all of whom are trying to understand this grownup world and problems like poverty and hunger. And they wrote it as a fundraiser to help children who were experiencing famine. The brilliance of this co-creation is, to quote actor Jeff Bridges, that “poverty is a very complicated issue, but hunger isn’t.” It empowers every single person involved in the production to help raise awareness, and raise money, and simply send food to those who need it.
The musical is beautiful. The staging is imaginative. Best of all, Merrill’s passion for educating communities about key world agreements through music is infectious. This guide provides detailed instructions that make the production simple and strong, including activities to engage children about The Rights of Children, and impactful information to provide during intermission. When children understand Children’s Rights, they become humans who understand Human Rights. And as we move forward on this magnificent project of creating a world where everyone has dignity, the planet becomes a more respectful, safe, optimistic, and beautiful place where “everybody’s everybody.”
—Kristen Caven, playwright and co-author of The Bullying Antidote and The Winning Family: Where No One Has to Lose,
