I am sure you all receive reports from your teachers telling you what you have done well at and things where you may need help to improve. Last summer the Prime Minister and her Government got their report back from the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (UN Committee) on how well we are respecting children’s rights in the UK.
The UK is a great place to grow up, and in its report the UN Committee told us that we are doing lots of things to make sure we live up to our promise to respect children’s rights. Most of what the UN Committee said was good, but we can always do better - and it is our job to help the Prime Minister do that. We need to do more to make sure schools help you to stay safe, and this includes when you are using the internet. So we decided it was right for you to be taught about this at school. We also need people working for the Government to think more about children and families when making important decisions. So we are helping the rest of the Government to understand how important it is for them to consider children and their views when making decisions which affect you and your families.
I hope you enjoy reading the report from the UN Committee and that it helps you think about what adults, including politicians, can do to respect your rights and follow the rules set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
Robert Goodwill, MP, Minister for Children and Families