Intended for junior or senior high school students, this pamphlet examines the status of the world community in upholding the promise of the United Nations'"Universal Declaration of Human Rights" of 1948. The five chapters include definitions for a human being, and discussions of human rights and whether laws and treaties are effective in protecting human rights, value conflicts and how these affect human behavior, descriptions and comparisons of existing plans and national and international human rights. Questions and activities at the end of each chapter include ideas to think about, issues to talk about, facts to find out about, and things to do. The pamphlet contains many examples of abuses of human rights. Three appendices are provided: the text for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, important dates in human rights history, and names and addresses of some United States human rights groups. (CK)