Our Human Rights problem: Ballycastle High School

Our Human Rights problem: Right to adequate rest and leisure

Ballycastle is a town close to the north coast of Northern Ireland. It is a rural town, with a large catchment area, meaning that pupils have to travel 10-15 miles along small country roads to get to school. Ballycastle High School has 380 pupils from age 11 to 18.

For the past 2 years, Ballycastle High School’s Civic-Link groups have been using Human Rights as a way of identifying and solving problems in the community. This year’s Civic-Link group have identified a problem that we believe infringes on our right to rest and leisure. Our school offers a wide range of extra-curricular activities but many pupils find it difficult to access these activities. The main problem is the bus service. There are only a few buses available to pupils and these come at different times that don’t correspond with the end of our after school activities. This means pupils have to either leave after school clubs early, or spend time down in the town, waiting for a late bus. This reality in particular causes concerns for parents as it is not the safest option for their children. Winter time, with its dark nights and cold conditions, adds to the concern for general safety.

This situation results in pupils who live far from school not having the same access to school run leisure facilities. We feel strongly that this affects those pupil’s Human Rights and if a dedicated after school bus service was offered, everyone would have equal access facilities and everyone would be able to avail of the after school clubs they most enjoy. Our proposal would be that the bus services areas with the more remote school catchment areas and where a lot of pupils, who would like to stay after school, live. The bus would run on days of greatest need (ie, when the majority of pupils who stay need transport home). This proposal would mean that pupils, staff and parents would all benefit.

By the Ballycastle HS Civic-Link group