The Child's Right to Respect

"A Child’s Right to Respect" is a book by the outstanding Polish educator Janusz Korczak—a man who wasn’t afraid of children’s questions, which is why he was called a “child god.” “There are no children—only people,” Korczak insisted. “But with a different scale of concepts, a different store of experience, different impulses, and different games of feelings.”

This book is about relationships that connect a child and an adult, a pupil and a teacher, or more precisely, people with one another. A child needs more than to be loved—he must be respected. Children deserve respect, trust, and friendly treatment. An educator who tries to negotiate with children strives to believe in their strength and experience, and looks for ways of cooperation—thus gaining the right to be respected by the child. And with it comes the right to breathe “in an atmosphere of gentle sensations, cheerful laughter, first vigorous efforts and surprises—pure, bright, and sweet joys.”