Australian students' perceptions of the importance and existence of their rights

In this study, 519 early adolescents rated the importance and existence of 40 rights, based on the themes of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Ch ild, in their homes and public schools. From a cross-national perspective, Australian students were similar to students from a majority of countries i n the priority they gave to survival and development, health and medical ca re and emotional and family support in the home setting. These rights were also ranked highly in terms of their existence in Australian homes. Rights emerging as most important in the school arena focused on quality of educat ion, educational opportunities, quality of social relationships and autonom y in choosing social relationships. Australian students were most like stud ents from Denmark, Belgium and the USSR in their stronger emphasis on the s chool peer context as an arena in which to establish rights to freedom of a ssociation and expression. Discrepancies between ratings of importance and ratings of existence revealed that for between 25 percent and 28 percent of the sample, students felt that their rights to advocacy, privacy and fair treatment received little or no support in schools. The results of the surv ey make a significant contribution to understanding the views of Australian adolescents as a first step to their inclusion, in a consultative manner, in educational programs regarding rights for children. They may also aid sc hool psychologists and teachers in their endeavours to identify ways in whi ch school environments can be enhanced to support the psychological, as wel l as educational, growth of students.