The rights and liberties of the child as well as its obligations are specified in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland [4], Acts of Parliament, and the statute and regulations of each institution [5].

Catalogue of rights in the statutes and regulations of residential care institutions

The rights and liberties of the child specified in Polish law are generally consistent with the rights and liberties specified in the Convention on the Rights of the Child [6] and other international legislation. The way of defining these rights and liberties varies in both scope and wording. This sometimes leads to unjustified limitation of a given right or liberty, e.g. the freedom of religion is conditioned on the clause of not violating the fixed order of a given institution or on parents' consent. In the Polish legal system there is no single act which would embrace the full catalogue of the rights and liberties of the child, as it was done in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The rights can be found in various pieces of legislation. Also, in the standard statutes and regulations for various residential care institutions for children, only the selected rights of the child are included. There are no common regulations for a given kind of residential care institutions. Each institution draws up its own regulations. During preparation, drafts are only occasionally consulted with the children in care.

The following rights are most frequently mentioned in the statutes and regulations of these institutions: the right to care and protection, the right to respect dignity and personal inviolability, the right to protect family bonds, the right to education, the right to protection of health, the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to freedom of thought, speech, outlook on life and religion, the right to participation in the social life of the institution, the right to privacy, the right to appeal against decisions regarding the child in care and the right to know one's rights.

Recently new statutes and regulations have been drawn up for the majority of institutions for children, concentrating more on the precision in the formulating of the rights and liberties of the children in care. The assessment of the existing statutes and regulations has been negative and many changes have been suggested [7].

Observance of the rights

Observance of the rights of children in residential care institutions is monitored by governmental institutions e.g. the Ombudsman, family judges and non-governmental organizations like the Committee for the Protection of the Rights of the Child, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. The monitoring indicate that generally the rights of the children are observed, and the cases of violation of these rights are usually not extreme. Among the rights about whose observation and guarantee there are reservations, the following are usually mentioned: the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to protection of health, the right to protection against cruel or degrading treatment or punishment and against sexual abuse, and the right to privacy.

There are, however, rights which are commonly infringed: the right to freedom of speech, thought and information about oneself, the right to observe the principle of continuity in bringing up the child, the child's right to freedom of association. [8]

Children or their legal representatives, parents, guardians, etc. are entitled to means of protection in law including the right to sue. Usually the statutes and regulations of residential care institutions do not mention all legal means available. The right to make requests and complaints to the authorities in charge of the institution is usually mentioned, but the children in care are rarely informed about their right to lodge complaints with the superior authorities, the Ombudsman, non-governmental organizations, etc. As a result, the children do not know how to assert their rights, and they defend themselves very rarely. It is symptomatic that very few children make complaints to governmental bodies or non-governmental organizations [9].

Awareness of the children's rights

The knowledge of children (both younger and older) in residential care institutions about their rights is insufficient. The children do not know what rights they have, and they cannot even evaluate them. This is, inter alia, due to the fact that until recently there have been no rules obligating the personnel of such institutions to inform the child on admittance to the institution about his or her rights, the regulations of homes for detained juveniles and houses of correction were exceptions, and due to poor knowledge of the staff about children's rights. Sometimes lack of children's knowledge about their rights has been convenient to the staff. Sometimes, it has been facilitated by difficult access of the child to the regulations of the institution, or by making only parts of the regulations e.g. only the list of rewards and penalties available to children.

Currently, the are attempts to change this unfavourable state by taking up various actions aimed at increasing both children's and adults' knowledge of the child's rights. It should be stressed that in Poland we are at the stage of education of both adults and children by adults. Activity of children or youth themselves in propagating knowledge of their rights is still at the initial stage.

Educational programmes and activity of non-governmental organizations

The framework of school curricula
The rights of the child are propagated by both governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations. The governmental agencies do it usually within the framework of school curricula. Issues concerning human rights are included in the syllabus of Civics. In the primary school, pupils get acquainted with the catalogue of rights and liberties and with organizations for the protection of human rights. In the secondary school, these topics are repeated in a larger scope. Some teaching materials for these purposes have been developed, e.g. a collection of lesson notes on human rights and liberties for teachers and pupils [10]. The notes provide for children's active participation in learning about the rights. For instance, children are suggested to discuss one child's right, prepare and make a 'speech for the defence' to protect their right, to act a play with other children about proceedings before a domestic court or before the European Commission of Human Rights in a case on violation of the rights of the child, and to write a provision on e.g. the right to privacy.

Since 1993, the Faculty of Law at the Nicolaus Copernicus University, Chair of Human Rights in cooperation with the Ministry of National Education has been organizing a national Contest on the Knowledge about Human Rights for secondary school pupils, in which pupils participate willingly [11]. Children in residential care may also take part in it.

Television programmes
Children staying in residential care institutions apart from getting to know their rights within the framework of school subjects have an opportunity of extending their knowledge through television programmes. Television programmes for the youth (with participation of the interested party) present the topic of the rights of the child, including the rights of children staying in residential care institutions, pupils' rights, issues of tolerance and intolerance, the problem of the parents' right to scold, etc [12].

We think that television programmes are more often focused on examples of violation of the rights of children in residential care institutions than on presenting the catalogue of the rights of children staying in an institution of a given kind (e.g. in an orphanage or a house of correction).

Picture and posters
Younger children are helped to learn their rights through pictures and posters in which their fundamental rights are presented in a simple way. For instance, the children's weekly Pentliczek has published a poster in which some situations in which a child can refer to his or her rights are shown. One of them illustrates the right of the child to secrecy of correspondence by showing a boy keeping a letter in his hand. The letter is locked with a big padlock. Next to the picture there is a translation' of the right into the children's language: 'Nobody may read my letters without asking me, I have a right to secrets and my own opinion.' Children in residential care institutions have access to such publications. Apart from that, children themselves draw pictures illustrating their rights, taking into account the daily life in their institution. These pictures are hung in their dormitories, playrooms or classrooms.

Non-governmental organizations and children's rights
The rights of the child, including the rights of the child in residential care, are propagated by non-governmental organizations. The Committee for the Protection of the Rights of the Child, operating since 1981 through a few dozen branches throughout Poland, should be mentioned. It unites volunteers who want to help children protect their dignity and rights. The Committee propagates knowledge of the Convention on the Rights of the Child among children and adults, makes cases of violation of children's rights public (including the violation of rights of children in residential care institutions), cares for a correct application of law to children, takes initiatives to increase protection of the rights of the child, provides training on the rights of the child in various communities, publishes training and information materials for children and adults. Children can turn to the Committee with their problems personally, by post or by telephone.

Another non-governmental organization is the Society of Children's Friends operating since 1919. The Society acts for the benefit of orphans, as well as ill and disabled children or the ones in difficult living conditions. The Society activists think that the fundamental right of the child is 'the right to live in a family'. [13] The Society's activity includes children staying in residential care institutions.

A special role in protection of the rights of children staying outside family is played by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights [14]. This organization provides training in human rights (including the topic of the rights of the child) for leaders of various organizations and communities, who are to propagate this knowledge in their local communities. The Foundation is also a publisher. Its publications concern also the rights of children in residential care institutions, and present results of monitoring such institutions. These publications are delivered free of charge to the above mentioned institutions and to the institutions supervising them.

Children's Parliament
In recent years, we have been observing a growing interest of children and youth in their rights and a need to get adequate information on this subject. An example may be the founding of Children's Parliament, during whose sittings problems related to protection of the rights of the child, including the protection of the rights of the child in residential care institutions, were discussed [15]. Moreover, children from such institutions were members of this Parliament. They made speeches in the Parliament on the problems related to their stay in the residential care institutions.

Another example can be the invitation of mentally retarded children also staying in residential care to a conference on protection of the rights of such children held in the Seym building in 1995. The MPs and Senators of the Republic of Poland could listen to these children's opinions on protection of their rights.

Educational training
The issues related to the rights of the child specified in the regulations and statutes of residential care institutions are also raised during educational training. Children in residential care institutions may also learn their rights by acquainting with the regulations and by being informed about them by the personnel on admittance to the institution. In many institutions, however, this is done only superficially. Children learn about their rights from their own experience, e.g. if they are rewarded in accordance with the regulations.

Conclusions

In the first half of the 1990's, a lot has been done to increase the knowledge of children and youth in residential care institutions about their rights and liberties. However, taking into account the fact that the majority of these children do not sufficiently know their rights, we note that more has to be done in this regard. We especially have in mind making children in residential care involved on a broader scale in the educational process on the rights and liberties. In Poland, we observe continual search for more effective and attractive ways of making children and youth familiar with the rights of the child.

We also face a paradox. Children in residential care institutions have more opportunities to learn the rights of the child in general than to learn about the rights strictly related to their stay in such institutions. Thus, non-governmental organizations make the former subject of discussion or simulation of real-life situations. Due to particular significance of these rights to children there is an urgent need to change the current practice.

The children staying in these institutions are not informed about the means of legal protection as well as about institutions and organizations acting in the field of the rights of the child to which children could turn to with their problems. Further education of the personnel of these institutions in the rights of the child is also required. It should be stressed that actions taken up by non-governmental organizations propagating the rights of the child are very useful. Various forms of these actions and the fact that they often cover the issues neglected by the state authorities are of indispensable value. In respect of both education and protection of the rights of the child, Poland is still at the starting point. Nevertheless, it is worth doing this hard and arduous work as it serves the future of the world - children.