The article presents an overview of content and perspecitves in the U N Convention on the rights of the child. The four main categories of rights; the right to survive, the right to develop, the right to be protected and the right to participate are discussed. The distinction between absolute and relative rights, and between rights in view of the the child as object, and rights in view of the child as subject is elaborated. Different meanings of the concept ”child perspective” are discussed and the necessity to use a multi-dimensional approach to the concept is put forward, including the awareness that views on children also can be negatively loaded. The four fundamental articles in the Convention (articles 2, 3, 6 and 12) and the two articles concerned with schooling (articles 28 and 29) are presented and discussed with particular focus on their relevance for life in school.