What children rights mean to children: Children’s citizenship (Turkish Case)

Children’s citizenship begins with knowledge and awareness of their rights and responsibilities in life. In line this view, this article aims to contribute to the understanding of children’s views on their rights. This study was done to determine the awareness and views of 5th grade middle school students regarding children's rights. Phenomenology design was used in the study. The study group consisted of 133 5th grade students (57 boys and 76 girls) enrolled in a secondary school in the central district of Bolu province in the 2nd semester of the 2023-2024 academic year. Word association test and semi-structured interview form were used. In conclusion, it was seen that majority of the participants express provision and protection rights than participation. The children in this study mostly mentioned their rights in the context of provision and protection but participation rights were not in the forefront in their lists about children rights. Based on these findings, it is seen that children learn their rights mostly in the context of school. Family and the media are the other most mentioned sources of learning about children’s rights in this research.