The "Right" Ideas

Share and discuss this theory about the Social Contract: Many years ago a French philosopher, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, said that people, who lived on their own and were free to do as they wished, decided to join together. These people agreed to give their rights to do whatever they wished in exchange for living in a society where everyone's natural rights are protected. This was called a "social contract" between the citizens and their government. This was how societies/communities started. People/citizens agree to be governed and, as a part of the government's responsibility, it must guarantee certain rights to its people/citizens.

Distribute printed copies of the Five Basic Rights document and group the learners into five groups. Assign each group to one of the five basic rights: freedom of expression, freedom of religion, right to be treated equally, right to be treated fairly, and right to vote. Allow time for groups to answer the questions for their assigned basic right.

Have a member of each group share their responses and encourage others to add to and/or ask questions of the information presented.

Focus on the responses to the question, "Is it ever appropriate to limit these rights?”

Pose hypothetical prompts for discussion such as limiting the right to vote based on passing a competency test, requiring vaccinations even if people object due to religious beliefs, etc. 

Emphasize the role of the Bill of Rights in protecting individual rights and limiting the government. (This discussion is intended to spark critical thinking. Learners discover through conversation that the government cannot limit guaranteed rights, which leads to the following statement.)

Unroll a banner with the statement, "Each person's rights reach only to the boundaries of someone else's rights." Ask learners to express their individual and personal interpretation of this statement. Stress the importance of respecting others' thoughts and ideas and their right to express them. Emphasize the role of these rights in the group setting (freedom of expression, right to be treated equally, and the right to be treated fairly). Have students color and decorate the banner with supporting illustrations and display it in a prominent location.

Explain that the government is not the only group in our society that protects the rights of citizens or provides services for them. Nonprofit organizations are not part of the government and work alongside government and businesses to help and protect the rights of the people. In our society, the government does not provide for all the needs of its people. (If it did, this would make our taxes too high and would put the government in our lives too much.) 

Nonprofit organizations are also called the "independent sector." This means that they are not part of the government or private business. Nonprofit organizations can be religious or non-religious. The First Amendment says that "Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion" (separation of church and state). TSince religious groups cannot be part of the government, they are in the independent sector.

In the same groups, learners search the internet to identify at least one nonprofit organization that works to honor or violate the group’s assigned basic right. With the help of the Role-Play handout below, each group makes a plan to role-play an example of the nonprofit organization honoring or violating their assigned basic right. Allow approximately 25 minutes for planning.

Have the groups perform their role plays while the other groups take notes on the handout.