Children’s rights in the classroom: Do student rights outweigh teacher’s authority?

Abstract

The overprotection and overemphasis of child rights led to the rise of a new phenomenon of children disregarding authority and rules. This research explored the implementation of children’s rights in Gweru, Midlands Province, Zimbabwe and its effect on their behaviour in the classrooms. The research was qualitative supported by the transformative paradigm. The Bronfenbrenner theory was the study framework with twenty purposively selected participants for interviews and focus group. Through the thematic analysis, challenges brought by children’s rights in attaining quality education include indiscipline, bullying of teachers, overprotection of rights and delinquency. On the other hand, disempowerment, disintegration of teaching and learning, irresponsibility and lawlessness were identified as the effects on children’s behaviours. The study further emphasised the strategies that could be adopted to foster successful teaching and learning while observing children’s rights including raising awareness, training of stakeholders and revision of policies and legal frameworks. Given the empirical results, this study stressed that overemphasis on rights without stressing responsibility is cultivating a breed of selfish and rowdy child.