Industrial Schooling in Contravention of the UN

According to UNICEF, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (to which Canada is a signatory):

… is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights: civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. In 1989, world leaders decided that children needed a special convention just for them because people under 18 years old often need special care and protection that adults do not.

Notice that this Convention does not just address legal rights but a much broader spectrum of rights, which our government has agreed to in writing.

Here is Article 13 of the Convention:

1. The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child’s choice.
2. The exercise of this right may be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:
(a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others; or
(b) For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or morals.

Let’s look at how the New Brunswick Department of Education uses curriculum and enforced homework in contravention of international law:

• Students are told what to write about, when to do it and to what external standards over which they have no input or influence. Failure to comply results in punishment of imposed loss of time, the threat of poor marks or other more subtle coercion.
• Students only receive information that has been approved by and screened by external authorities.
• Children are only given the option of either attending public school or receiving no support from public funds in order to seek knowledge themselves.

Article 16:

1. No child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his or her honour and reputation.
2. The child has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

In our family, the school, under the direction of the Minister of Education, imposes significant interference with our children’s privacy, family and home as every evening is spent doing anywhere from 2 to 5 hours of imposed homework. This is completely arbitrary as the Province has never been able to prove that homework serves any purpose that is clearly deemed useful to society.

Article 28:

1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to education, and with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity, they shall, in particular:
(a) Make primary education compulsory and available free to all;
(b) Encourage the development of different forms of secondary education, including general and vocational education, make them available and accessible to every child, and take appropriate measures such as the introduction of free education and offering financial assistance in case of need;
(c) Make higher education accessible to all on the basis of capacity by every appropriate means;
(d) Make educational and vocational information and guidance available and accessible to all children;
(e) Take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools and the reduction of drop-out rates.
2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that school discipline is administered in a manner consistent with the child’s human dignity and in conformity with the present Convention.
3. States Parties shall promote and encourage international cooperation in matters relating to education, in particular with a view to contributing to the elimination of ignorance and illiteracy throughout the world and facilitating access to scientific and technical knowledge and modern teaching methods. In this regard, particular account shall be taken of the needs of developing countries.

First of all, there is little choice, even in high school, meaning that one size fits no one, except the system. Attendance is encouraged only through coercion, as most students (let’s take a poll) would opt out of our school system as it currently exists.

Article 29:

1. States Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to:
(a) The development of the child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential;
(b) The development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations;
(c) The development of respect for the child’s parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, for the national values of the country in which the child is living, the country from which he or she may originate, and for civilizations different from his or her own;
(d) The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin;
(e) The development of respect for the natural environment.
2. No part of the present article or article 28 shall be construed so as to interfere with the liberty of individuals and bodies to establish and direct educational institutions, subject always to the observance of the principle set forth in paragraph 1 of the present article and to the requirements that the education given in such institutions shall conform to such minimum standards as may be laid down by the State.

Once again, the curriculum is imposed from above, with no input from individual students and not taking into consideration individual needs. Even the natural environment is not respected as students are daily bused to consolidated schools in diesel-fueled vehicles because the Department has arbitrarily closed smaller schools over the years and emphasized factory-style education farms.

These are only some examples of how our government agencies are letting down the people of New Brunswick (the only example I can speak about with first-hand knowledge) and not allowing each young generation to realize its true potential. This convention covers fundamental rights and it is obvious that those in charge of our education system are ignoring their obligations. Children have the right to choose and be involved in seeking knowledge and expressing themselves (Article 13). This is a legal right.