The Year Of Janusz Korczak 2012: There Are No Children, There Are People
- Smolińska–Theiss, Barbara (Ed.)
Pursuant to the decision of the Parliament of the Republic of Poland, the 2012 year was pronounced the Year of Janusz Korczak. The Sejm addressed this initiative to wide circles of parents, educators, teachers, social workers, medicine doctors, lawyers, catechists, artists and Police officers. The Sejm addressed the milieu of researchers, activists and advocates of the rights of the child in Poland and worldwide. To the foreground came the famous Korczak’s motto There are no children – there are people. This manifest covered – and still does – the fundamental thesis: children are rightful persons and citizens. They have the indispensable dignity and are entitled to rights, they take an important place in the family, school and society.
The task of the Year of Janusz Korczak was to introduce, remind and implement the Korczak’s thought into the modern depiction of the world. Most often we speak about Korczak as a doctor, writer or feature writer or – above all – the educator of Jewish and Polish orphans. In the perspective of today’s challenges, Korczak was the forerunner of children’s rights before all. Nearly a hundred years ago he demanded that the world of adults observe the child’s right to respect and love. He spoke about various rights: the child’s right to death, to the present day, to childhood, to play, to make mistakes etc. By formulating the rights of the child, Korczak had come ahead of his time, entered the circle of great moral authorities and social reformers who have been building the future of the world on the foundations of respect for every human being both the adult and the child.
In English and Polish.
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