Rights to Recreational and Cultural Activities…

Posted in: Children's Rights | July 22nd, 2008

ABOVE: Children playing soccer at the Crianca Esperanca center in Cantagalo, Rio de Janeiro.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child was a landmark achievement for the United Nations in that it was able to not only guarantee children their most basic of human rights; (Shelter, Food, Security, etc.) but also extended these, by also granting them rights to recreational and cultural activities as well. Specifically, Article 31 states that children have the right to leisure, play and participation in cultural and artistic activities.

Here in Brazil, these sorts of rights are oftentimes overlooked because of the amount of attention needed to provide the most basic rights to children living in impoverished areas. Government and civil society alike must not forget these sorts of rights as they are essential to the full human development of children. The Statute of the Child and the Adolescent echoes these rights as well, stating in articles 4, 58, and 59 these sorts of rights to sports, leisure, recreational and cultural activities.

The CRC and ECA were sure to include these kinds of rights, in addition to the basic rights stated above, because of their vital importance to the physical and mental growth of children into adulthood. Participation in recreational and cultural activities teaches children things they cannot learn in the classroom.

Sports, for example, teach lessons such as teamwork, respect for authority and elders, and the general importance of physical fitness. Involvement in cultural activities allows children to slowly integrate themselves into society in their own unique way. Being able to learn from those who have come before them can give them a vision for progress going forward.

One group here in Brazil doing this kind of work that I have been able to visit in my short time here was Crianca Esperanca. They dedicate their work to providing sports and cultural activities to kids who would not have them otherwise. This organization builds public spaces in favelas around Brazil, providing children with a safe place to develop outside of the classroom environment.

Again, we’d like to encourage further input from our readers about other organizations doing this kind of work.

Further Reading:

Below are some interesting articles from comunidadsegura, both relating to giving children access to recreational and cultural activities to not only aid their human development, but to keep them away from violence as well…