Youth and children affairs state minister Sarah Mateke has implored parents to help their children to understand the limits of their (children) rights.

According to Mateke, children have gone overboard concerning their rights and are instead violating the rights of others.

The state minister says a child one time stormed her office demanding her mother to take him to an 'expensive school' since it was 'his right to go to that school,' well knowing that the parent did not have the capacity to afford such a school.

“At times, the children have gone overboard, you should know the limits and the capacity of your parents because if your parents can only afford shillings 200,000 as school fees per term, you shouldn’t force them to pay shillings 1.5 million,” she adds.

Mateke made the call while officiating at the day of the African Child organised by Girls Not Brides Uganda on Friday in partnership with the World Vision.

She explained that those days children used to be seen as for the whole community, but because of the rights that came up, nobody wants to know whose child is doing what or even guide them, fearing that they will be criminalised for punishing errant children.

“Because of the rights, you cannot advise someone’s child because the children and their parents will report you.

SSP Moreen Atuhaire the Acting commissioner child and family protection Department of police speaking during the event at Golf course Hotel. (Photo by Agnes Nantambi).

At the end of the day, the community has left the children to do wrong things and even those who were doing right things have been left to do wrong things, which is not right," Mateke added.

According to her, “we need to talk to our communities and parents and tell them where the rights of the children stop other than saying they are independent and can do anything and think for themselves”.  

The day celebrated under the theme of promoting children’s rights in schools was aimed at promoting efforts geared at ending child marriages.

The state minister also implored parents to give girls who got pregnant during the COVID-19 lockdown a second chance to go back to school.

“Most of these girls were either raped or defiled and have no hope for the future. It's only their parents who can support them by giving them a second chance,” she said.

Police acting commissioner child and family protection department Maureen Atuhaire decried the increasing rights violations committed against children.

According to the 2022 Police Annual Crime Report, violations of children’s rights have kept on increasing under different forms.

“Under sexual violence alone, we registered about 12,000 cases of defilement and more than 13,000 cases of child abuse and torture,” she said.

Atuhaire, however, said as much as the children are over empowered to know and how to recite their rights, especially in schools, it is not translating into empowering them to report cases to Police on their own.

“We want them to gain that confidence of coming to the Police and report [violations] to avoid conniving with the perpetrators, which denies children justice,” she said.

The executive director Joy for Children, who is also the chairperson Girls Not Brides Uganda, Moses Ntenga, observed the need for parents to help children understand their responsibilities to stop them from violating other people’s rights.

The rights, according to him, come with responsibilities, noting that the African Charter gives both the rights and responsibilities, unlike the UN Charter which provides for only rights.

“If you have the right to go to school and the parent has played his role of taking you to school, it is your responsibility to study, listen and take part in household work because it’s the same law which gives rights and also gives powers to parents to support their children, “he said.

The children should also be responsible to listen and should take advise from responsible persons that take care of them,” he said.