Children’s Rights Courses

What are Children's Rights?

Children's rights are a subset of human rights. Children are typically defined as less than the age of 18, except in a few specific cases, and this field is concerned with their health and wellbeing. Children's rights ensure certain baseline rights, such as association with both parents, food, shelter, safety, and security. The rights of children expand through many fields, including philosophy, law, politics, and ethics. Child rights are open to a variety of interpretations and are considered distinct from youth rights and general human rights. What constitutes child welfare often varies according to culture and religion, but advocacy groups worldwide are pursuing a more standard definition of what's in the best interests of the child.

Learn About Children's Rights

Children's rights have evolved over the decades to include new precedent for child labor, definitions of consent and sexual abuse, and the right of a child to the same basic standard of living in terms of healthcare and other fields. EdX offers courses designed in partnership with leaders in the field of human rights. The courses are designed to happen on your own time and from your own home. You gain the experience you need and have the chance for official certification if necessary.

Children's Rights Courses

Harvard offers courses on children's rights from a global perspective. You'll explore what goes into child protection through war and global conflict. You'll learn the impact of things like child prostitution or child pornography on the long term development of children. SDGAcademy has a course placing children's rights in the context of rights for all marginalized and vulnerable groups around the world, "Human Rights, Human Wrongs." You'll learn how to build a standard of rights among varying cultural norms and what we, as a global community can do to ensure that everyone's rights are observed.

Understanding Children's Rights

Whether it's the involvement of children in armed conflict or human rights treaties, the protection of children is a global issue. The committee on the rights of the child has outlined fundamental rights for all young people giving them freedom from sexual exploitation, child abuse, and the sale of children. In 1959, the UN adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, and ever since, the discussion of what constitutes a child's rights has occupied a large space within the general field of human rights. Learn what you need to know about this critical area with edX.org and gain the knowledge to help change the world.