Upholding children’s rights to support their psychological wellbeing: Reflections on a workshop with school staff during the Coronavirus pandemic

Abstract

In this article we reflect on the development of a workshop within a schools’ context that addresses children’s rights through a psychological lens, and considers how both upholding children’s rights supports their psychological needs and vice versa. This workshop was developed in Wales during the Covid pandemic, when the need to protect and promote children’s rights was even more in focus, with children being in and out of school for two years. We reflect on two general ideas in relation to children’s rights; how the interpretation of children’s rights can be influenced by views on childhood; and how uncoupling of rights and responsibilities is important if we consider rights as universal and unconditional. We then consider three rights through a psychological lens and in particular drawing on attachment theory; the right to be listened to; the right to have adults do what’s best for me; and the right to be safe (to be protected from harm).