November 20th is International Children's Rights Day. To mark this day, the SKP, together with three Swiss organizations, has published new educational material entitled "Children's Rights: Do you know them?".
At the last children's conference in Geneva, children and young people stressed the urgency of the issue of mental health. The Federal Commission for Children and Youth Issues also considers mental health problems to be the greatest concern at present.
According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, mental health is closely linked to respect for children's rights. Educational actors have a responsibility to create an environment that promotes the emotional and social development of schoolchildren.
The project managers from SKP, Integras and the alliance of terre des hommes schweiz and terre des hommes suisse emphasize that children's rights are most effectively taught through personal engagement and practical experience. Practical exercises are intended to help schoolchildren deal better with stress and be more empathetic towards their classmates.
The teaching material promotes interactive engagement with children's rights, particularly with regard to mental health. The teaching material is now available free of charge to teachers throughout Switzerland in three national languages. It has been adapted to the curriculum and expanded to include inclusive material in simple language.