Estado de los derechos de la niñez y la juventud en las obras lasallistas de América Latina y el Caribe

Abstract

Introduction. The decade for education in the sphere of human rights, proclaimed by UN in 1997, has boosted the strengthening of programs to increase the respect for human rights, which are an urgent educational priority by the Latin American Educative Regional Lasallian Project (PERLA) in 2001. Objective. To evaluate the efforts made in the Lasallian educative institutes in Latin America and the Caribbean in favor of the rights of children and the young. Materials and methods. Research with a descriptive focus, that analyzes several aspects of education for the rights, particularly in skills related to the discussion of human rights, the promotion of abilities for judging situations, social skills, increase of the knowledge on human rights, the democratic ambience in the classroom and successful experiences in the educational framework concerning human rights. For that purpose, the information was collected between September 2006 and July 2007, using an instrument that included qualitative and quantitative indicators referred to the bundle of data necessary to show the situation in every educative program. Results. The experiences that take place in the Lasallian programs from the region are involving students and teachers, impacting the communities in the surroundings and the parents. Besides, those experiences evidence that the Lasallian programs have assumed a wide for the teaching of human rights, not only covering contents but habits and resources that allow the exercise and defense of human rights in an environment of respect towards the others. Conclusion. All of the Lasallian educative programs that participated in the research work have a big commitment with teaching human rights. Therefore, there is a systematic reflection on the subject.