Human rights and responsibilities
Every right most people enjoy comes paired with a responsibility not to trample on someone else's.
Part of your national curriculum
- Law and justice: Understand human rights and the responsibilities that come with the rights citizens hold
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Understand human rights and the responsibilities that come with the rights citizens hold
Key learning points
- • What are human rights?
- • Rights come with responsibilities
- • Balancing rights
This lesson at a glance
- 25 minutes
- 14 parts to scroll through
- 3 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 14
Watch first
Human rights and responsibilities
An English teaching video on this topic from Kids Academy. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.
In a nutshell
Understand human rights and the responsibilities that come with the rights citizens hold
Learning cycle
Part 2 of 14
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Part 1 · What are human rights?
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 3 of 14
Learn
What are human rights?
Human rights are basic entitlements every person has simply by being human, such as the right to life, freedom of expression and a fair trial. In the UK, many are protected by the Human Rights Act 1998.
Explore the idea
Part 4 of 14
Learn
Rights come with responsibilities
Freedom of expression does not permit hate speech that incites violence; the right to protest does not permit endangering others. Citizens are expected to exercise their rights in ways that respect other people's rights too.
Quick check
Part 5 of 14
Quick check
Which UK law protects many human rights?
Reset break
Part 6 of 14
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 2 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Quick check
Part 7 of 14
Quick check
Why do rights come with responsibilities?
Learning cycle
Part 8 of 14
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Part 2 · Balancing rights
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 9 of 14
Learn
Balancing rights
Sometimes rights can conflict, such as privacy versus press freedom. Courts often have to weigh up competing rights and decide where reasonable limits should be placed, showing that rights are rarely absolute.
Quick check
Part 10 of 14
Quick check
What happens when two rights conflict, such as privacy and press freedom?
Challenge round
Part 11 of 14
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Challenge round
Part 12 of 14
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
Human ____ are basic entitlements every person has simply by being human, such as the right to life, freedom of expression and a fair trial.
____ are expected to exercise their rights in ways that respect other people's rights too.
Mastery quiz
Part 13 of 14
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Human rights and responsibilities
3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. Which UK law protects many human rights?
2. Why do rights come with responsibilities?
3. What happens when two rights conflict, such as privacy and press freedom?
Lesson round-up
Part 14 of 14
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
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Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaDo the work
Your written work for this lesson
This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.
Should the town centre have a curfew for under-16s?
After a rise in reported vandalism, Harbrook council proposed that under-16s should not be in the town centre after 9 pm without an adult. Police recorded 62 incidents last year, most between 9 pm and midnight. Shopkeepers signed a petition supporting the plan.
A youth council objected. They pointed out that most young people in town at night were going home from sports clubs or work, that the plan punishes a whole group for the acts of a few, and that the library and the bus interchange are in the town centre. They asked instead for a late bus and a youth space.
The council voted to trial the curfew for six months and to publish the crime figures at the end.
Written for Good Learning Co.
Reading questions
- Give the strongest point on each side of the argument, using a fact from the case.
- Whose rights and whose responsibilities are involved here? Explain both.
- Write your own view on the curfew with reasons and one example.
Reading and response
ReadingRead the case in the lesson again and write what you think should happen, and why it is fair. Use one fact from the case as evidence.
2 paragraphs (PEE)
Extended writing
WritingWrite your answer to the lesson's big question in full: the strongest point on each side, then your own view with reasons and an example.
250–350 words
Reading log
ReadingFind one news story this week that links to this lesson. Note the headline, where you read it, and how it connects.
1 story, 4–5 sentences
Two sides of the argument
WritingWrite the strongest point for, the strongest point against, and then your own view with a reason.
3 paragraphs
Poster or leaflet plan
DiagramPlan a leaflet that explains this right or responsibility to someone your age, then photograph it.
1 planned page
Saved as you type.
Part 1 of 14 · Watch & discover
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Understand human rights and the responsibilities that come with the rights citizens hold