Students' Perceptions of Their Rights in Portugal

The present ,study ,analyses ,young ,Portuguese ,students’ perceptions,of their ,rights ,at school ,and ,at home. ,The sample ,con- sisted of 294 male and female students, in Year 7 to Year 9, from several,regions,in the country. The assessment,instrument,used,was the ‘Children’s Rights Scale’ (Hart, 1993; Hart et al., 1996) and results,were ,related ,to a ,number ,of other ,questions ,regarding ,the following independent variables: (1) school variables (school year, school achievement, teacher’s support, violence at school); (2) family variables (parental authority, family cohesion, parents’ education); (3) personal variables (age, gender, professional interests). Signifi- cant relations,were,found,between,the students’ perceptions,of their rights and these independent variables. In general, Portuguese students,declare ,that ,their ,rights ,exist and ,are ,very ,important. Students who have a greater degree of personal limitations, or who live in worse school or family contexts, are the ones who indicate less importance,and ,perceive ,less existence ,of rights ,at school ,and ,at home. The study,gives directions,to efforts to strengthen,projects,for the promotion,of students’ rights by including,training,programs,for teachers and parents, in a close net connection among school, family and,significant,social agents. OnDecember 10, 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was