The Convention on Rights of the Child established guidelines in order to explain the main topic in violations of children's rights, issues that, unfortunately, have no boundaries and are still detectable in the whole world. Some important laws have been approved, but most of the Convention's articles are still outstanding or remain too general.
The right to education, the principle of non-discrimination, according to which all children should have the same rights without distinction of race, sex, language and religion, the fight against children exploitation and the rights of children with disabilities are still a problem also in our modern Western society. Even if the articles of the Convention are applicable to all the children, there are some specific groups of children from vulnerable target groups that they run a higher risk of their rights to be violated. In Europe, the poor conditions in which many newly arrived refugee children live increases even further the violation of their rights. Minority children in Eastern Europe face also the same conditions.
Consequently it is very important to let children know their rights and the rights of their schoolmates who are “different” because they come from a different culture or might have some disabilities or social problems. They have to learn to respect everybody's rights, to accept everyone and his/her differences.
One of the rights that is mentioned in the Convention (Article 31) is the right to “to join in a wide range of cultural, artistic and other recreational activities”. In the case of children from these vulnerable groups this right is frequently violated since their access to these activities is very limited. On the other hand theatres and cultural organisations have the need to develop relations with the local community that surrounds them and adapt to changing situations (as it is the case for example after the arrival of refugees).
In our experience, theatre has an effective role not only for young people to talk about their problems, life situations, doubts and uncertainties, but also as a communication tool able to compare them with other children, to let them appreciate each other's ability, to create a bridge between the world of children and adults’ one. Theatre is also a very important method for the raising of awareness of social issues (such as the issue of the Rights of the Children) not only to the children themselves but also to the general public.