Kisara Rattanapirat. An assessment of the Kawasaki city ordinance on the rights of the child and the human rights ombudsperson on child rights in two secondary schools. Master's Degree(Human Rights). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2008.
An assessment of the Kawasaki city ordinance on the rights of the child and the human rights ombudsperson on child rights in two secondary schools
Abstract:
Although Japans Constitution guarantees human rights and the country has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1994, in reality, child rights are not widely recognized. Children are not seen as rights holders, but have duties rather than rights. State laws, government procedures and culture and social practices have prevented child rights in Japan from becoming established in the society. Child rights and human rights violations are often seen in schools in the forms of bullying, corporal punishment, and overly strict school rules. In this research, the situation with regards to child rights was investigated at a public school and a private school in Kawasaki City. In circumstances that are not supportive of child rights promotion and protection, Kawasaki City, among other local governments, is playing a leading role in attempting to promote and protect child rights by means of the first comprehensive ordinance on child rights and the institution of an ombudsperson system. It aims to put CRC provisions into practice and have families, schools and the community collaborate on this. The ordinance and the ombudsperson have led to the creation of special measures within public schools such as the School Education
Development Conference, human rights representative teachers, and child rights education. No such mechanisms have been created within private schools because of their independent status from the education board and the City. From the research, it was found that the implementation of the ordinance and the ombudsperson did not effectively lead to change in teachers and students awareness and behavior in respect to child rights at the public school. Rather, it seems that the mechanisms were created on a welfare-based approach rather than a rights-based approach. The ombudsperson is also not recognized as an institution that protects rights. On the other hand, the private school did not seem to be significantly influenced by the attempt of the City to promote and protect child
rights. Various social factors that hinder child rights in Japan in general were found to play important roles in retarding the attempt of Kawasaki City to promote and protect child rights."