CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

УРОК-КОНФЕРЕНЦИЯ НА ТЕМУ:
"КОНВЕНЦИЯ ООН ПО ПРАВАМ РЕБЕНКА"

11-ый класс. Цикл: Легко ли быть молодым? Автор учебника В. П. Кузовлев.

Вид речевой деятельности: Говорение.
Цель урока: Развитие умения говорить (монологическая речь).
Задачи урока:

1. Умение подготовить связное высказывание по теме, владея большим страноведческим материалом.
2. Умение выразить свое отношение к теме.
3. Овладение синхронным переводом.

Воспитательная цель: Воспитание уважения к образу жизни, традициям и культуре англо-говорящих стран.
Развивающая цель: Формирование и развитие учебно-интеллектуальных умений и навыков абстрагирования, анализа, сравнения, логики.
Оборудование: Таблицы, схемы, показывающие рост преступности среди подростков, рост наркомании и т.д.

ХОД УРОКА

Teacher: I would like to start our conference with a poem of Albert E. Kahn. Here it is:
I claim the human right to live.
I claim the human right to love.
I claim the human right to work.
I claim the right to every child to eat.
In his poem the writer proclaims the right for everybody to live happily on the Earth.
I’d like to have this poem as a motto for our conference, because it deals with the problem of the human to have equal rights. It especially concerns children as they are less defended by adults.
And now I’d like to introduce to you the members of the conference. They are the representatives of the 11th grade….
They’ll help us to reveal the problem. We’ll see how large the problem is. I hope that all together we’ll understand that nobody must be indifferent to this problem. Maybe we’ll find some ways out.
Speaker 1: The United Nations Organization is an international organization to which nearly all the countries in the world belong. Its head offices are in New York City. The UN tries to make sure there is peace in the world and that all countries work together to deal with international problems. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child sets out in a number of statements called articles, the rights which all children and young people up to the age of 18 should have. The rights should apply to young people everywhere whether they live in rich or poor countries.
Russia agreed to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.
Speaker 2: Nowadays more and more social problems are associated with being young. Today it is fashionable to speak about teenage problems. A few years ago alcohol, fights, killings and other kinds of violence were more problems for adults than for young people.
But now, as official reports admit, violence, AIDS, drugs and alcohol are more and more associated with youngsters. For many children from poor families, violence, drinking problems and all that is associated with poverty becomes more real than reality.
The government’s surveys show that every fifth teenager who was arrested for criminal actions, was younger than 14 and could not be sent to prison. Almost half of the teenagers have experience with drugs, alcohol and sex under age 16. A lot of teenagers who have drug or alcohol addiction almost never believe that they are dependent. These things are often combined with family and school problems. What makes young people do these things? What is done by society to protect youth or help them?
To these and some other questions we’ll try to answer today.
Speaker 3: Everyone has rights, including you. To protect children’s rights the United Nations has worked out an international agreement called the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. According to this Convention: all children have the right to non-discrimination (Article 2); All children have the right to life (Article 6); All children have the right to name and nationality at birth (Article 7); Children have the right to express their views (Article 12); Children have the right to meet other people (Article 15); Children have the right to privacy (Article 16); Children have the right to information (Article 17); Children have the right to protection (Article 19, 32); Disabled children have the right to take a full and active part in everyday life (Article 23); Children have the right to health and health care (Article 24); Children have the right to education and development (Article 28, 29); Children have the right to leisure (Article 31).
Speaker 4: In my speech I’ll try to explain some rights given by the UN Convention for young people. What are all these rights about?
1) The right to name and nationality at birth means that all children must get a name when they are born and become a citizen of a particular country.
2) The right to express their views means that children can say what they think. What they say must be listened to carefully.
3) The right to education and development means that children should have the best chance to develop their abilities. Every child can go to school. Different kinds of secondary schools should be available for children. Schools should help children develop their skills, teach them about their own and people’s rights and prepare for adult life.
4) The right for disabled children to take a full and active part in everyday life means that such children must be helped to be as independent as possible.
5) The right to non-discrimination means that children can join organisations, take part in meetings and peaceful demonstrations which do not affect other people’s rights. All children should have the rights whatever their race, sex, religion, language, disability, opinion or family background.
6) The right to health and health care means that all children should have a chance to live in a safe and unpolluted environment with good food and clean drinking water. The government must give children good medical care and try to reduce the number of deaths in childhood.
7) The right to protection means that the government should protect children from harm, cruelty, abuse and dangerous drugs.

Can rights and laws be different in different countries? I’m 16 now; but I have no right to drive a car. Why can teens of my age drive a car in other countries?

Speaker 5: Most age rights and laws in the United States are similar to those in other countries. But many of them can differ from one state to another. Different places can have different laws about driving, drinking alcohol, smoking, and so on. In most the legal driving age is 16 or 18. But in some communities, teenagers with driving rights can drive alone after the age of 14 or 15, but only in the daytime. Some Americans think that it isn’t reasonable, because teenagers are too young. Another example: most people know that states in the US have different laws about the legal drinking age. In most states no one under 21 can buy alcohol in public. Some people put the can in a paper bag and drink; nobody can see the beer, but still it is not legal.

What laws and age limits are there in Great Britain?

Speaker 6: The British Government joined the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991 and worked out some documents with age limits for some activities for British children.
At Sixteen.
You can leave school. But you are entitled to receive full-time education until you are 19.
The law permits you to work full-time, if you have left school.
You can leave home without your parents’ consent.
You can apply for your own passport.
You can buy cigarettes. The law allows a young person to smoke at any age.
You can buy liqueur chocolate.
You have to pay full ticket on trains and on buses and the Tube in London.
You can marry if your parents permit you to do it.
At seventeen.
You can get a license to drive a car and ride a motorbike.
Girls can join the army.
You can buy any firearm (guns or ammunition).
At eighteen.
You are an adult. You do not need your parents’ permission for anything. You can get married, vote, borrow money and drink alcohol.

What can you tell us about the rights of children in our country. Do they need any protection?

Speaker 7: According to mass media reports the life of teenagers in Russia has changed greatly over the last ten years. The experts admit that the crimes being done by teens have increased 17% since 1991. Every 10th crime is done by teenagers. In 1997 about 170,000 teenagers were put into prison. 34,000 teenagers were under 14. The government’s surveys show that 60% of teenagers used drugs for the first time. There are 2,000 disabled children, only 923,000 of them attend kindergartens and schools. There are 453,000 children in children’s homes; 90% of them do not have parents. The rights of Russian children are supported by the UN Convention and guaranteed by the Constitution. But still there are a lot of problems.
Speaker 8: What has gone wrong? Some specialists explain that the changes of our society, the system of our life, force young people to choose their own lifestyle. On the one hand, our society agrees that 15-17 year-old people are old enough to be responsible for what they do and give them quite a lot of freedom and rights. On the other hand, most adults think that teenagers are too young to be taken seriously. This misunderstanding produces many problems. Actually, a lot of teenagers say that their parents let them do anything they want and are quite indifferent to their problems. Many teenagers get upset or depressed when they can’t solve their problems. As a result, it makes them believe that there is only one way out – to stop living and commit suicide. No doubt, teen problems will increase. But young people should feel that they are cared for.
Teacher: Let’s make the conclusion of our conversation.
Everybody says youth is probably the best time of life; that being young means romance, love, new discoveries and so on. But it is the most difficult time because you have to make some very important decisions which will influence all your future life.
Things are not easy nowadays even for adults; but for teenagers who have to find their own place in society, it’s very difficult. It is necessary not only to adapt to your society, but also to be confident about your position in life.
In planning your future you have to think about many problems and the ways to overcome them. It is not an easy matter. You should know your rights and duties.
I wish you to know what to do in every difficult situation. Be ready to help people around you, be kind, patient and thoughtful.
I wish you good luck.