Introduction To Lessons:

Children are the world's most precious resource. They are the future for all communities, cultures and countries. Yet tragically children are neglected and even abused in too many countries and societies. People and countries that do betray the trust of children destroy the great potential for a better future for their own societies and for our world.

What do Canadian students know about the plight of children in developing nations? We have developed 3 lessons for young people 10 to 20 years of age to help you inform them. Each lesson is self-contained with Internet resources, clear outcomes, and assessment opportunities. Your students will learn not only about the plight of children but also what is being done by Canadians to address this tragic situation. Here are some important and very sad facts about children of our global community today:

• About 120 million between the ages 5 and 14 are working full-time.
• There are 120 to 150 million disabled children in the world and 80 percent of them live in developing countries.
• Only five percent of disabled children in developing countries have access to support services of any kind, and less than two percent attend school.
• One child in 10 is born with or acquires a physical, mental, sensory,intellectual, or physiological disability because of preventable diseases, congenital causes, malnutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, accidents and injuries, armed conflict and land mines.
• In a recent period of 10 years, about 2 million children have been killed and more than 6 million have been disabled as a result of armed conflicts. Armed conflicts have left 1 million children orphaned and about 12 million homeless.
• About 300,000 children under 18 are currently exploited around the world as soldiers, porters and cooks for warring forces, spies, and sex slaves.
• Of the 24 million refugees worldwide, 50 percent are children.
• There are likely well over 100 million children working on the streets.Brazil alone has an estimated 100,000 street kids between the ages of 7 and 18.
• Well over 1 million children are forced into the sex trade every year.

Source: www.acdi-cida.gc.ca

To help your students to come to grips with this factual information and to begin to understand the tragic situation of too many children in real human terms we have provided three ready-to-use lesson plans. Each lesson is specifically designed to engage and thoughtfully challenge a specific grade level or age group:

• Junior Grades (5 to 7),
• Intermediate (8 to 10)
• Senior (11 to 12 and older).

We have also identified 6 primary issues that focus on the abuse of children. They are:

• Exploitation of children through child labour.
• Victimization of children through armed conflict.
• The plight of child soldiers.
• The tragedy of homeless children living on the streets.
• The search of refugee children for safe haven.
• The cruel prospects of children with disabilities including HIV/Aids infection.