I have spent time speaking with young people, sitting in classrooms, and listening carefully. What shocked me most in my recent research is this: the majority of our young people in Zimbabwe do not actually know what human rights are. Ask them to name even three rights they are entitled to under the Constitution, and silence follows. It is not their fault. It is ours, as a system, as adults, and as leaders.
Human rights by omission
This is not an accident. Human rights education has been quietly excluded from our school curriculum. Yes, learners are exposed to subjects like Heritage Studies or Civic Education, but nowhere is there a clear, practical, and sustained teaching of human rights as guaranteed under the Constitution of Zimbabwe or international conventions. It is as if we are raising a generation to know history, mathematics and agriculture but not the very rights that safeguard their dignity and future.
When a child does not know their rights, they do not know when those rights are being violated. They do not know that being beaten is unlawful. They do not know that exclusion from school because of fees is not supposed to happen. They do not know that they have the right to participate in decisions that affect them. Silence becomes their default.
The cost of ignorance in adulthood
The absence of human rights education is not a neutral gap, it is a weapon. When these children grow into adults, the consequences are devastating:
Exploited workers: Without understanding labour rights, young adults easily accept unfair wages, hazardous conditions, or unlawful dismissals. They cannot invoke laws that exist to protect them.
Silent citizens: Not knowing constitutional freedoms means many do not vote, do not demand accountability, and do not engage in civic processes. A muted electorate allows corruption and poor governance to thrive unchecked.
Vulnerable parents: Adults who were never taught about rights are less able to protect their own children. They cannot insist on fair treatment in schools, clinics, or courts because they themselves never learned these entitlements.
Cycles of abuse: When you do not know that violence or discrimination is unlawful, you either accept it or replicate it. Ignorance becomes generational inheritance.
The deliberate destruction of agency
By keeping human rights education outside the classroom, we are creating not just uninformed children, but a powerless adulthood. A society where citizens cannot assert themselves is one where exploitation, corruption, and abuse of power become normalised. This is how entire nations are weakened through the quiet silencing of the very people who should be watchdogs of democracy.
What must change
Curriculum reform: Human rights education must be embedded across primary and secondary levels, not as a footnote but as a core subject.
Teacher empowerment: Teachers themselves must be trained to interpret and teach rights not as abstract legal concepts, but as everyday realities.
Community dialogues: Schools alone are not enough. Churches, youth clubs and community centres must mainstream rights discussions.
Youth-driven advocacy: The young people who do know their rights must be supported to mentor and teach peers, breaking the cycle of silence.
A call to courage
My research has shown me that ignorance is not accidental it is systemic. But silence is not destiny. If we want a Zimbabwe where young people grow into adults who are unafraid to demand justice, fairness, and dignity, then human rights must stop being whispered truths and start being lived lessons.
Because a child who does not know their rights today will become an adult whose rights are trampled tomorrow. And that destruction is entirely preventable.
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