The Portrayal of Rights in Children’s Literature Teaches Important Lessons

Jonathan Todres, a law professor at Georgia State University, is the co-author of the forthcoming “Human Rights in Children’s Literature: The Narrative of Law."

Updated May 4, 2015, 12:35 PM

Politics, or rather social issues that have been politicized, are an inherent part of the stories children read and have read to them. Children’s literature provides a safe, imaginative space for children to confront complex issues. In those imaginary worlds, children learn about themselves and others, an important part of developing and learning to navigate the world successfully. Rather than attempt to strip children’s books of politics, we should focus on understanding how children’s stories convey social values.

Human rights education produces positive outcomes for children’s sense of self-worth, increase empathy and reduce bullying and harmful behaviors among peers in classrooms.

Though not widely recognized, human rights themes are richly expressed in children’s literature. Dr. Seuss’s "Horton Hears a Who!" takes children on Horton the elephant’s quest to save the Whos — a tiny people living on a speck of dust — from destruction. Each time Horton exclaims “a person’s a person, no matter how small,” children are exposed to the concepts of human dignity and equality — foundational principles of human rights. Ultimately the Whos are saved when they make themselves heard, teaching the value of participation rights and corresponding responsibilities.

Children’s literature navigates many other rights issues critical to children: P.D. Eastman’s "Are You My Mother?" explores children’s right to be cared for by their parents, while Munro Leaf’s "The Story of Ferdinand" probes identity rights and the right to grow into who you want to be. Other books and fairy tales convey various civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. Not all children’s stories are rights fulfilling; many portray children as having no right to participate in decisions that affect their lives. Others reinforce harmful gender and racial stereotypes. But both positive and negative portrayals of rights teach important lessons to children.

Research on human rights education demonstrates the value in teaching children about human rights. It has been shown to produce positive outcomes for children’s sense of self-worth, increase empathy and reduce bullying and harmful behaviors among peers in classrooms. Children who learn about rights exhibit a better understanding of the connections between rights and responsibilities.

These are vital lessons. Yet if adults co-opt children’s literature as a means to indoctrinate specific perspectives, they risk spoiling this space for children’s exploration and lessening its effectiveness as an art form.

We know children absorb lessons from the books they read. As adults, we should seek to support and guide children’s exploration of the world through literature and the messages on human rights and other social issues embedded in their favorite stories.