are like other people or different from them, to work harmoniously with those from other cultures, and to cultivate values that promote cooperation and good citizenship. The goal of both study and activity in these years is not only to promote cognitive appreciation for different cultures but also to work actively to combat feelings of prejudice and discrimination among children as they work and play together.

In grades four through eight and ten through twelve, children study the history of the state, the nation, and the world, and they encounter many examples of the abuse of human rights. The history of human rights, however, does not end with the recounting of stories of the suffering that one group of people has inflicted on others; it also includes the story of the evolution of
means to control human aggression and injustice. The latter story is no less important than the examples of people’s inhumanity to one another, for it contains within it the understandings that must be developed in order to prevent future abuses of human rights.

As the abuses of human rights are examined, students must learn to note the presence or absence of governmental processes that protect human rights. They must pay close attention to the relationship between a state and its citizens and learn to ask critical questions, such as the following:

• Who controls the government? How did the rulers get power? Who is entitled to vote? Who is allowed to compete for office? Is there an opposition political party? How often are elections held?

• Is there a free press? Is the press allowed to criticize the government? Does the government have the power to censor the press and individual authors? Are people put in jail for expressing unpopular views? What happens to political or religious dissenters? Who controls radio
and television broadcasts?

• Do the people have the right to practice religion? Do they have the right to travel? Are they free to hold meetings and to express their views without censorship by the government? Are they allowed to Join free trade unions not controlled by the government? How are minorities
treated by the government? Does the government permit racial or religious minorities to be persecuted by others?

• Are there laws protecting individual rights? Are these laws followed? Are all people treated equally by the law regardless of their race, religion, sex, or language? Is there an independent judiciary? Do the people have the right to trial by a jury? Are these trials fair and open?
Do the people have the right to be represented by their own counsel? Are people arrested for criticizing the government?

• Does the government permit people to be tortured or subjected to cruel and inhuman punishment?

• Are organizations that monitor the condition of human rights allowed to function and publish their findings without interference by the government?

• Is the exercise of these rights controlled by the government at its discretion, to be offered and withdrawn at will? Or are they guaranteed and enforced in law and in fact regardless of the party in power?

Such practices are basic to the protection of human rights and individual liberties. They are fundamental to a democratic society. When these rights are present, we know that the society is democratic. When they are absent or when they are suspended or breached, we know that the society is undemocratic or that a democratic society is becoming less so.