The goal and purpose of this study was to investigate the perspectives of children's rights of Taiwanese and Korean teachers and children. In order to gather the information, questionnaires regarding important and existent level of children's rights w...
The goal and purpose of this study was to investigate the perspectives of children's rights of Taiwanese and Korean teachers and children. In order to gather the information, questionnaires regarding important and existent level of children's rights were distributed to the participants from Taipei and Seoul area
The participants were Taiwanse and Korean teachers and children in elementary school. All children were sixth grade students. 116 Taiwanese teachers were from ten different districts(Da-an District, Jhongjheng District, Neihu District, Datong District, Wunshan District, Nangang District, Jhongshan District, Wanhua District, Shihlin District, Beitou District) of taipei area. 310 Taiwanese children were from five different districts(Da-an District, Jhongheng District, Neihu District, Wunshan District, Wanhua District) of Taipei area. 79 Korean teachers were from four different districts(Dong dae moon gu, Eun pyung gu, Seong buk gu, Yang cheon gu) of Seoul area 247 Korean children were from three different districts(Dong dae moon gu, Eun pyung gu, Seong buk gu) of Seoul area
The questionnaire, Children's rights perspectives of youth and educators: Early findings of a cross National project, made by Hart & Zeidner, was used in this survey. Eighty items regarding important and existent levels of children's rights were based on the contents of "The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child."
Important and existent levels were examined throughout the study. Furthermore, in terms of children's related factors, sex, school score and socio-economic status were used. For factors related to teachers such as sex, the scale of school and the number of class were used.
Among four rights (nurturance, protection, participation and self-determinating rights), teachers and children had a strong tendency to give higher values to protection rights. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, basic needs such as air, sun and food are needed to be satisfied for people to pursue the next step " safety needs." In this study, the participants regarded protection needs higher than survival needs.
Both Taiwanese and Korean children regarded "To be a good friend to others, to have the opportunity to have good friends who care about you, to be with people who love and care about you" as important. Due to the economic and consumer growth rate, women tend to possess an occupation. Moreover, the birth rate of Taiwan and Korea was 1.3(2002) and 1.17 respectively(AisaNews).
Teachers and children in both Taiwan and Korea regarded " To have money to spend as you choose, to be able to choose your own religion or beliefs about life." to be less important. All Taiwanse and Korean teachers and children thought they are least endowed with the following items, "To be given help by experts when you are confused or feel bad, to be able to choose your own religion or beliefs about life, to be able to live on your own when you are ready and choose to do so."
According to the results, important level was valued higher than existent level with significant differences(beyond .001 level). This shows that children's rights were not completely supported as people's wish. Definitely, there are some desired expectations and improvements.