ABSTRACT
Drawing on the views of the children and young people who took part in the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY) research, this chapter provides a children's rights-based critique of school children coming of age in a society as well as receiving an education in a school system fundamentally divided religiously. The data collected in the NICCY research project has been re-examined and analyzed through the lenses specific to religion and education. The chapter explores four interrelated issues: the extent to which children's right to freedom of conscience is respected at school; the impact religion has on children's enjoyment of their right to an effective education; the effects of religious segregation within education; and protection from religiously motivated harassment. The chapter concludes by exploring the correlation between children's religious identity and how their rights are enjoyed at school and elsewhere.
