Right to Education

A Child’s right to an Education As a child, you are entitled to the right to finger paint, run around the playground, to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and the right to an education. You are entitled to the right to be able to flourish socially and academically in a safe environment. You deserve to be given the opportunity to develop an identity, and to think freely for yourself as you grow into an adult. Every child should be given the possibility to get educated, eventually breaking the hazardous cycle of poverty. However, due to violence, discrimination, poverty, culture, militia, and cost, not every child is given this chance. Through organizations like Unicef And HREA, documents and treaties have been created in order to protect the civil rights of these children, and to hopefully provide them with the schooling they are worthy of. All over the world, children as young as eight years old are denied a childhood and subjected into their countries armed forces. An estimated 200,000 to 300,000 children serve in their countries armed conflict as spies, messengers, lookouts, and some even participate on the front lines or in suicide missions. Not only is this illegal because the child is not of age, but because it is infringing upon the child’s right to attend school. Unfortunately, this is not the only militia interference that occurs. Mostly in the Middle East and in Africa, schools are taken over by the government to be used by the military as barracks, bases, surveillance posts, and firing bases. The occupation of the schools creates an unstable and unreliable learning environment for students. A recent example of this would be Sanaa, Yemen: September 2012. Yemen Government occupied over fifty four schools for the military and Government security forces. The schools were used as live battle sites where weapons and ammo were stored, and prisoners were detained. Bullet holes were scattered throughout the walls along with graffiti of the military

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