UNIT 7. GETTING STARTED
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Education This unit will examine ongoing drivers of child labor in the world today, in terms of refugee crises and children in street situations. The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated these conditions by closing schools. Millions more children are at risk of being pushed into child labor. But the pandemic also presents us with an opportunity to imagine a more equitable post-pandemic world.
Learning Outcomes Understand the obligations of states towards refugees and displaced persons. Understand the obligations of states towards children in street situations. Describe the effects that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on child rights and human rights. Recognize the causes and effects of social and civil unrest in the United States. Identify successes in protecting and promoting child rights and human rights. Take action to create lasting social change.
Essential Questions: What are the factors pushing children to leave their homes and cross borders? What are the factors pulling them towards more peaceful and affluent countries? How can they be integrated into their new lives? What are the after-effects of the Covid 19 pandemic on worldwide poverty? How can we seize this opportunity to ameliorate inequity in our society?
Skills: Effective political activism.
UNIT 7
Lessons: Running to Safety The Right To Shelter Effects of Covid-19 on Child Labor and Human Rights Socioeconomic Effects of Covid-19 in the United States Peaceful Protest as a Tool for Social Change Action Steps to eradicate Child Labor
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Lesson 1 Running to Safety Children - regardless of their migration status - are entitled to realize their rights, including nondiscriminatory access to early childhood education, formal and non-formal learning settings, and vocational and technical training. Despite the fact that humanitarian assistance mechanisms are in place, demand often far exceeds the available resources. The modern child refugee crisis is a humanitarian emergency that demands immediate action. Whether these children are migrants, refugees, stateless or internally displaced people, they are all children first and they have a right to protection, such as health, education, and housing. In addition, asylum-seeking children hold the right not to be detained or imprisoned, unless as a measure of last resort (Art.22 CRC). These rights apply to all children regardless of their background. Children do not lose their rights simply because they have moved from one country to another. Therefore basic principles such as the best interests of the child, the principle of family unity and family reunification are of particular relevance to this population, under international law. Asylum-seeking children face many struggles to live a dignified life, such as lack of access to education, healthcare, housing, care from their main caregivers, as well as integration into their host country due to language, social and cultural barriers. Trafficked children or children who fear being trafficked may have valid claims to refugee status. In this context, any recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of children for the purpose of exploitation is a form of trafficking. Whether the child consented or not is, therefore, irrelevant. Refugee children often live in refugee camps and improvised settlements in different host countries that have extremely limited resources, despite the efforts of governments, organizations and international agencies to offer humanitarian assistance. As a result, refugee children risk being exposed to work that harms their integrity, and obstructs their development and education. 2021 set a record of 36.5 million children forcibly displaced worldwide. However, these numbers don’t consider the newly displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, or the war in Gaza, or the environmental disasters that are a product of climate change. Conflicts and violence forced children out of their homes, 13.7 million child refugees and asylum-seekers, and nearly 22.8 million internally displaced. Today’s biggest refugee crises are in Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, Syria, Venezuela, Palestine, Northern Triangle of Central America, Ukraine, South Sudan, Myanmar, and Afghanistan. Even though humanitarian assistance aims to meet the most basic needs, some crises receive more support, diplomacy efforts, media coverage and attention than others. Furthermore, it is a shameful fact that “the vast majority of the world’s displaced people are hosted by the world’s poorest countries. Today, 85% of refugees live in developing countries while the richest nations host just 15%.” (Joshua Surtees, Guardian, April 15th 2022). States and the international community have a duty to share the burden of the
UNIT : LESSON 1
world’s refugee crises equally, to identify local child welfare services and actively explore technical and financial contributions from host governments, specialized agencies and NGOs. More recently, real-life actions from young concerned citizens to raise funds through social media campaigns have helped include and elevate the voices, experiences, and unique perspectives of refugees and other populations.
Lesson 1 Running to Safety Only a small percentage of refugees are resettled each year, and humanitarian visas are difficult to obtain. Several countries, including the United States, used the Covid-19 public health emergency as a pretext to ban asylum seekers and push them off to neighboring countries ill-equipped to deal with them, or confine them in scandalous inhumane jail-like conditions at the border, thereby denying them due process in their asylum claims. Children should not be detained for immigration-related purposes, irrespective of their legal/migratory status or that of their parents. Instead, care arrangements and community-based programmes need to be in place to ensure adequate reception of children and their families.
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TERMS TO KNOW
· Internally displaced person · Refugee · Asylum Seeker · Stateless Person · Persecution
SUGGESTED RESOURCES 1951 Refugee Convention relating to the Status of Refugees 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees The Most Shocking Second a Day Operations Data Portal: Refugee Situations Interactive Map Refugee Life: Through a Child’s Eyes Yusra Mardini Inspiring Story An 11-year-old Starts Over in the World's Largest Refugee Camp DRC Child Refugees War Stories The Rules of War in a Nutshell Who is a Refugee? Who is an Asylum Seeker? What Does it Mean to be a Refugee? Human Rights Explained Interactive feature by BBC Syrian Journey Resilience – game about refugee camp and how to distribute resources Venezuelan asylum seekers ended up on Martha’s Vineyard
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Lesson 1 Education as a Human Right ACTIVITY INTRODUCTION: Running to Safety Part 1 The modern child refugee crisis is a humanitarian emergency that demands immediate action. Using interactive maps and news articles, this activity will introduce students to the various refugee crises taking place right now, all over the world. PREPARATION BEFORE THE ACTIVITY: Familiarize yourself with the content of the Running to Safety summary. Explore the resources available in this interactive map by the UNHCR and familiarize yourself with the IRC’s Top 10 Crises the World Can't Ignore list. ACTIVITY DURATION: 40 - 45 MINUTES ACTIVITY OUTLINE: 1. Begin a discussion about the refugee crisis. What are your students' first thoughts when they hear the word refugee? How would they define it? What about the refugee crisis? Do they think it is something taking place far away or close to home? 2. Define the following and discuss the similarities and differences as a class. Internally displaced person Refugee Asylum Seeker Stateless Person 3. There are 11.8 million child refugees globally. What reaction do your students have to that fact? How often do they hear about refugee children and/or asylum-seeking children? Why do they think some refugee crises are reported on in mainstream media and some go undetected by the larger public? 4. Tell your students that, for the time being, they are the news reporters. Have them use reputable online resources such as this interactive map by the UNHCR and the IRC’s Top 10 Crises the World Can't Ignore list to research one active refugee situation taking place around the world. 5. Assign students Worksheet 7.1 which guides them in researching the refugee situation they are learning
UNIT 7: LESSON 1
about. Give them ample class time (and independent time, if necessary) to research their situation with your guidance. 6. Once students have had sufficient time to research and understand their situation, have them frame their research as if they were a journalist reporting on the situation. They can either write a short article as if
Lesson 1 Education as a Human Right for an online or print newspaper OR script a mock segment for the nightly news. ALTERNATIVE OPTION to Running to Safety Part 1 If you feel your students will respond well to the idea of being journalists reporting on these situations, turn this into a longer-term project. Instead of having them investigate the situation on their own, have them take on an active crisis as a team. They will still complete Worksheet 7.1 (but as a group) then will take on different roles in becoming a nightly news team. EX: One student runs the camera, two are the anchors, one is the director, etc. Teams will be expected to submit a two-minute segment (recorded) on the active situation they are investigating. ACTIVITY INTRODUCTION: Running to Safety Part 2 Following the first Running to Safety activity, this lesson will have students focus on the refugee and migrant crisis taking place in the United States. PREPARATION BEFORE THE ACTIVITY: Familiarize yourself with the content of this video. Explore the resources available in the interactive map by the UNHCR. ACTIVITY DURATION: 40 - 45 MINUTES ACTIVITY OUTLINE: 1. In the first lesson of this unit, students had the opportunity to be the reporters. Now, ask them how much they hear about refugees and forcibly displaced populations here in the United States. How is it talked about in mass media? What did they learn acting as reporters that they might not see reflected in their news networks? 2. Show Inside the Largest Refugee Camp on the U.S.-Mexico Border by VICE Asia. *Before showing this video in class or assigning it to students, issue a content warning. It contains difficult themes. Make sure your students know they are in a safe space and are aware of the mental health resources available to them. 3. Lead a discussion with your classroom about this video and the active situation taking place in the United States. What circumstances are contributing to this crisis in the US? What needs to change? What are the first steps in initiating that change? 4. Ask students to reflect on what they can do in their own communities to support forcibly displaced individuals.
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Lesson 2 The Right to Shelter Unicef has estimated that there are between 100 and 150 million street children in the world. What is known is that 44 million children in the world are fully or partially orphaned, and for many of them the death of a parent sets off a cascade of events that lands them in the street. A common factor at work with children in street situations is violence – the economic violence of extreme poverty and the violence of war and natural disaster, violence which causes social breakdown. Violence sends them to the street, and once living on the street, children are at risk of cumulative trauma. The right to a “standard of living adequate for the child’s mental, spiritual, moral and social development” properly due to children, according to Article 27 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, is violated. What this really means is not to have food, shelter, safety, sanitation, education and a future. Street children must find a way to feed themselves, and that imperative frequently leads them to encounters with the law, for petty crimes or begging in urban downtown areas. Sometimes the police do more than simply move street kids along. Police and death squads in Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Brazil and the Philippines have been known to use summary execution as a means of dealing with the problem of street children (see for example the 1999 judgment against Guatemala in the Case of the Street Children). By virtue of their extreme vulnerability, street children are at risk for the worst forms of child labor. Survival sex is common, as is getting sucked into the drugs trade. The carceral system in the United States is the largest in the world – a significant proportion of U.S. inmates charged with drugs offenses got their start in the drugs trade as children on the streets. In this country and in many others, a war on drugs ends up being a war on vulnerable people, hardening social attitudes towards them. Rehabilitation and reintegration of street children is notoriously difficult, and often heartbreaking. Housing alone is inadequate, schooling alone is inadequate, vocational training and counseling alone is inadequate. The harm caused to children forced to fend for themselves on the street requires a panoply of social services and remediation. It is much easier to prevent children from living on the streets, than it is to fix the damage later. In the wake of the economic wreckage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Unicef recommends a five-pronged approach for a long-term preventative solution to the problem of children abandoned to the streets (Transformative Action to Accelerate Results for Children in Street Situations in the Decade of Action 2020-2030), which includes poverty reduction, social protection, prevention of family separation, protection of children from violence and exploitation, equal access to justice, quality and
UNIT 7: LESSON 2
inclusive education and making cities safer for children.
Lesson 2 The Right to Shelter Simple measures like helping street children with birth registration, which allows them to be counted, gives them legal personhood and qualifies them for social, health and legal services, are critical to reaching this vulnerable and largely invisible population. Street children are exposed to all manner of diseases, including HIV and STDs. Medical care is an essential first step. Since police are the ones most likely to encounter children on the street, police officers need much better training to equip them to respond. Street sweeps that dump children into remote warehouse/jail facilities do nothing but hide the problem, while violating the civil rights of street children and deepening their trauma. Instead, shelter and education programs that can help street children make up for time lost and equip them to earn a stable living must be set up and funded consistently. Alongside practical measures to reduce poverty and reinforce struggling families, a social transformation is needed to reverse the corrosive effects of exclusion and contempt, in other words, respect for the humanity and potential of children in street situations, respect for their rights.
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CHILDREN IN STREET SITUATIONS
USAID distinguishes between four categories:
A “child of the streets,” in other words, children who have no home but the streets and no family support. They move from place to place, living in shelters and abandoned buildings.
A “child on the street,” in other words, children who visit their families regularly and might even return every night to sleep at home but spend most days and some nights on the street because of poverty, overcrowding, sexual or physical abuse at home.
“Part of a street family” - children living on sidewalks or city squares with the rest of their families. They may be displaced due to poverty, war or natural disaster. Families live a nomadic life, carrying their possessions with them.
“Institutionalized Care,” children who come from a situation of homelessness and are at risk of returning to a life on the street. In many states in the US, the foster care system abruptly ceases all support once a child turns eighteen, for example. 248,669 kids exited the US foster care system in 2019, and 8% of them were legally emancipated, in other words, aged out and on their own (See Foster Care Statistics 2019) Another 3% have other outcomes, including running away and death. Quite a few former foster children find themselves homeless shortly after aging out of the foster care system.
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TERMS TO KNOW Children of the Street Children on the Street Street Families Children in Institutionalized Care
ESSENTIAL QUESTION What are the push/pull factors leading children to the street? How can communities be strengthened to prevent children from being abandoned to the street?
SUGGESTED RESOURCES Research paper by Augendra Bhukuth and Jérôme Ballet, Children of the Street: Why are they in the Street? How do they live? For a deep dive into the capability approach to development in children, which stresses the positive freedoms to choose a way of living that has value to that person, see this book, Children and the Capability Approach UN Framework for the Immediate Socio-Economic Response to Covid-19: an urgent socio-economic response to the Covid-19 pandemic pointing out that development deficits and inequities made many countries so vulnerable to the pandemic. The UN Development System must help governments and populations respond in a way that builds a better future. Rescuing Emmanuel available for rent 59 mins Discarded – Street Children in the Philippines (Deutsche Welle) 42 mins Right to Know Ask Sheets Right to Know Homelessness Resources for the Homeless (Washington, D.C.-based)
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Lesson 2 The Right to Shelter ACTIVITY INTRODUCTION: This activity can be used to build empathy and imaginative resilience while mapping out the tribulations and capabilities of a street child in the form of a game. PREPARATION BEFORE THE ACTIVITY: Supplies Needed: Sharpies and several sheets of large poster-board (Note: if you have students in your class who are good at coding, the game could also be created online). ACTIVITY DURATION: 40-45 MINUTES ACTIVITY OUTLINE: 1. Have students read Children of the Street: Why are they in the Street? How do they live? by Augendra Bhukuth and Jérôme Ballet. Ask them to highlight circumstances throughout the article that affect positive and negative change for street children. Examples of circumstances with positive outcomes: joining a group of children who share food and shelter with you, finding a dog, someone gives you money. Examples of circumstances with negative outcomes: getting sick, witnessing a crime, being picked up by the police, a drug dealer recruits you. 2. Make sure students understand the definitions of: Children of the Street. Children on the Street. Street Families. Children in Institutionalized Care. 3. Have a discussion about the deep-seated and intersectional issues and systems in our society that lead to children on the street. Talk about the racist, classist and patriarchal systems of oppression in play.
UNIT 7: LESSON 2
4. Divide the class into groups of four or five students each. 5. Have the groups design a chutes and ladders game following the progress of a child on the streets. Chutes and Ladders, also known as Snakes and Ladders, is an ancient board game believed to date back to the 2nd century BCE.
Lesson 2 The Right to Shelter
Students should use the circumstances they highlighted when reading the research article to aid them in the creation of their game (Circumstances with positive outcomes=ladders, circumstances with negative outcomes=chutes).
UNIT 7: LESSON 2
Examples of ladder events could include joining a group of children who share food and shelter with you, finding a dog, someone who gives you money etc. Chute events could be things like getting sick, witnessing a crime, being picked up by the police, a drug dealer recruiting you etc. The goal of the game is to get into an NGO rehabilitation shelter.
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Lesson 3 Effects of Covid-19 on Child Labor & Human Rights The economic downturn brought by Covid-19 sharply increased global poverty. For the first time in decades, global progress against child labor has stalled and reversed direction. Currently, the estimate is that 160 million children toil in child labor, up by 8 million since 2016 – accounting for almost one in ten children worldwide. About 79 million children work in conditions likely to harm their health, safety or morals. In SubSaharan Africa, there are more children in child labor than the rest of the world combined. The ILO reports that “maintaining the current rate of progress would leave 121 million children still engaged in child labour” by the critical target date of 2025, due to rising poverty driven by the coronavirus pandemic, according to the latest ILO-UNICEF report. It is expected that millions of additional children will be forced into child labor as a result of the increase in unemployment levels and school dropouts during the Covid-19 Pandemic. According to Unicef, although social protection programs are urgently needed to battle the pandemic social and economic impact, “it seems inevitable that, in the medium term, most countries will experience serious fiscal crises”, that will demand the government’s full attention and resources to be addressed. This particularly affects poor countries with a revenue basis depending disproportionately on international trade, foreign direct investment or foreign aid. This is why social protection programs that directly address poverty are critical to offset the worst impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on child labor. There is a great need to fund and intensify social protection responses, including non-contributory cash transfers as they help lower child labor and help households weather economic distress. Other successful examples include reductions in school fees that have played a role in encouraging school attendance. Evidence from India shows that the negative impact of the economic shock was muted in areas where schooling was more affordable. There is also evidence from Mexico and Senegal that child labor declines when school quality improves. If school fees increase or school quality deteriorates, a further increase in child labor is certain. Loss of income due to the pandemic drove up rates of extreme poverty. However, even before the pandemic, funding for other publicly provided goods—like health, education, active labor market policies, and enforcement of regulations—has been declining, and children are most severely affected. These facts speak to the urgency of strengthening child rights protections globally. Investing in good quality education from the earliest ages, as well as access to social protection, is crucial to prevent and
UNIT 7: LESSON 3
address child labor.
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TERMS TO KNOW
Social Protection Cash Transfers
ESSENTIAL QUESTION
What are the effects that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on child rights and human rights? How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected child labor?
SUGGESTED RESOURCES What is the link between Covid-19 and child labor? Covid-19 stalled progress on child labor Covid & child labour: Some kids may never return to school
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Lesson 3 Effects of Covid-19 on Child Labor & Human Rights ACTIVITY INTRODUCTION: Opinion Scale This activity will ask students to respond to statements – varying in seriousness and topic – by placing themselves along a line of ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’. They will be encouraged to articulate why they have chosen this position. This activity can be useful in identifying and/or challenging perceptions and views and create a safe space to discuss differences of opinion. These materials were co-created with the 100 Million campaign in support of the Fair Share campaign, a global partnership of survivors, UN agencies, student and youth organizations, trade unions, moral leaders, and civil society organizations, united in achieving a major focus on child labor during the UN Year for the Elimination of Child Labor. You can find out more at www.100million.org. PREPARATION BEFORE THE ACTIVITY: Prepare the space by marking one end of the room as ‘strongly agree’ and the other ‘strongly disagree’; this could be verbally or with signs. For distance learning you can use online software to poll your students remotely and display the results in real time. You might already use classroom software to do this, alternatively you can create a free account with mentimeter.com and create an opinion poll slide to share with your students. ACTIVITY DURATION: 40 - 45 MINUTES ACTIVITY OUTLINE: 1. Discuss the impact that Covid-19 has had on child labor and children’s rights with your class. Based on this, have students recall human rights issues that were caused or exacerbated by Covid-19. 2. Begin by co-creating a code of conduct or rules with your students to ensure everyone feels safe and supported to share their personal opinions or beliefs. This could include asking students what they believe are important ways to behave, such as showing each other respect, active listening, and constructively challenging views you disagree with as opposed to insulting the person themselves. Set rules on what is acceptable language, highlighting unacceptable language including any form of hate-speech, prejudice, or discrimination.
UNIT 7: LESSON 3
3. Explain that you will be reading out a series of statements and students should decide whether they agree or disagree with the statement. Based on this they then choose which position to stand in that best represents their opinion. For example, if they are neutral, they can stand in the middle of the room, or if they agree closer to the ‘strongly agree’ end depending on how strongly they feel.
Lesson 3 Effects of Covid-19 on Child Labor & Human Rights 4. Read out some initial lighter statements for your students to respond to. Reading statements that you know your students will have strong opinions on is a good way to introduce this activity, so for the first few please choose your own (ours are examples): Milk chocolate is better than dark chocolate. Football is a better sport than soccer. 5. After your students are finished arranging themselves in the position that best represents their opinion, ask for one or two volunteers to explain why they chose to stand there. After a few viewpoints have been heard, ask if anyone wishes to move. Encourage students to keep an open mind; they can move if someone’s argument has changed their opinion or how strongly they feel about it. 6. After a few of these lighter statements, your students should understand the activity more. Now you can move on to the more complicated statements. We have suggested some below that link to the lesson themes of child labor, equality, and fairness, but please use whichever you feel is most appropriate for your class or add your own. Child labor happening in another country is not my concern. Only some children deserve the chance to go school. It is the responsibility of businesses, not governments to end child labor. Extreme poverty is due to the bad choices of individuals only. Richer countries have a responsibility to end child labor in every country. Ending child labor is possible within our lifetimes. Refugees should not be welcome in our country. All children in the United States have access to their rights. Access to rights has nothing to do with race, gender, or socioeconomic status. COVID 19 has had an immeasurable impact on the advancement of children’s rights, etc. 7. After each one has been read, repeat the steps above, asking for opinions on why students chose their position and allowing others to move afterwards. 8. Bring the class back to discuss the activity and debrief together, highlighting any strong differences of opinion or whether the statements made students think about issues they had not before.
UNIT 7: LESSON 3
9. Share how a key part of learning about global issues is not just absorbing the information but figuring out how you feel about these topics. You could also support students to understand more about how our opinions are often formed through the knowledge and information we have, and as we learn more these opinions and beliefs are likely to grow or change.
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Lesson 3 Effects of Covid-19 on Child Labor & Human Rights ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY: Can be completed in class or independently Worksheet 7.3 (pg. 204) will help students develop their activist toolkit by encouraging them to seek out resources that support the claims they made during the opinion scale activity. Determine whether students will complete this in class or independently. If it is completed during class time, either have students pair up with people who shared their opinion or, to simulate a real debate, pair
UNIT 7: LESSON 3
them with people who felt the opposite to have them fill out the worksheet.
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Lesson 4 Socioeconomic Effects of Covid-19 in the United States The Covid-19 pandemic had deep socioeconomic consequences in the United States leading to an increase in poverty and social inequality. To restrict the spread of Covid-19, the government took certain public health measures that had as a result lost wages or jobs, reduced health coverage, and reduced access to other essential goods and services that affect the quality of life and access to the most basic rights of children and youth. Moreover, the pandemic exacerbated structural poverty and the already existing social inequality in the United States, as thousands of people lost their jobs or experienced significant reductions in their wages. In April 2020, the unemployment rate increased to 14.8%— which is the highest rate observed since data collection began in 1948 by the United States Congressional Research Service; and by July 2021, unemployment remained higher (5.4%) than it had been in February 2020 (3.5%). Even though the pandemic affected millions of people in the United States, it is relevant to acknowledge that it impacted demographic groups disparately. In all sectors of society, Indigenous, Black, Latinx and Asian Immigrants suffered a greater negative impact and consequences due to unresolved remnants of colonialism and other historical and structural discrimination patterns our societies have not been able to overcome. Unfortunately, Black, Hispanic and younger adult workers experienced relatively high peaks in unemployment as well as a significant decrease in their labor force participation over the course of the pandemic. Additionally, persons with lower educational completion have generally experienced relatively higher unemployment rates and are less present in the workforce during this time. Another example is the particular impact on women, immigrants, and their children, as they have the lowest wages and are regularly present in service jobs, which exposes them to higher risks of infection, illness, and death from the disease, according to Human Rights Watch. A higher proportion of food production workers are non-citizens compared to all workers (22% vs 8%) and food production workers, in particular Black and Hispanic workers, also are more likely to be uninsured compared to workers overall (17% vs. 10%). It is important to keep in mind that approximately 3.4 million individuals work in food production industries. These workers have limited ability to weather the loss of income due to the government public health measures to control the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, they fell further into poverty and debt, and their kids’ opportunities to access education also decreased. Low-wage workers are often uninsured. So not only are they more likely to be exposed to infection, they have little access to medical care and treatment when they fall ill. This is particularly true of the immigrant community. Fear of potential negative consequences,
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such as deportation, is a barrier to signing up for health insurance, leaving immigrants all the more vulnerable.
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TERMS TO KNOW
Socioeconomic Conditions
ESSENTIAL QUESTION
What communities have been primarily affected by Covid-19?
SUGGESTED RESOURCES What’s on your mind? The Hill We Climb - Amanda Gorman
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Lesson 4 Socioeconomic Effects of Covid-19 in the United States ACTIVITY INTRODUCTION: “The Hill We Climb” Your students will explore the message behind Amanda Gorman’s poem “The Hill We Climb” and her background. This exercise helps students to deepen their understanding in the light of the recent events within American society. This artistic expression delivers an inspiring message of hope and resilience; it brings a message of unity, loss, harmony, diversity and reconciliation of a deeply divided and unequal country. PREPARATION BEFORE THE ACTIVITY: Have copies of the “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman either printed or shared online with students. Decide whether you will have students complete this individually or with a partner. Familiarize yourself with “The Hill We Climb” and Amanda Gorman. ACTIVITY DURATION: 40 - 45 MINUTES ACTIVITY OUTLINE: 1. Ask students to reflect on current events, where do they see children? What issues are affecting kids worldwide? Write their examples on the board. Some examples may be: The Ukrainian refugee crisis Covid-19 and school closures Gun violence Racism 2. Show Amanda Gorman reading “The Hill We Climb” at the presidential inauguration ceremony. After viewing, pass out a paper version to your students or share the written version with them online. Ask students to familiarize themselves with the poem and Amanda’s background. Students should take some time to annotate the poem and determine what social issues and historical events it is reflecting on and why. Have students highlight specific lines that stood out and draw connections with rights they have learned about or current events. Have students write questions, highlight word choices, etc.
UNIT 7: LESSON 4
This can either be done in a discussion-based setting or as a written assignment.
Lesson 4 Socio-Economic Effects of Covid-19 in the United States
3. After they finished carefully reading and analyzing, have them consider questions such as these: How can you connect “The Hill We Climb” with current events? How does this poem relate to the right of freedom of expression? How does this poem relate to the Black Lives Matter Movement? How is civil unrest approached within the poem? Is the poem framed within children’s rights in any way? Explain What is your favorite line? Explain why. Explain the line: “We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one.” 4. Which rights were realized so that Amanda could recite a poem on Inauguration Day? 5. What is the importance of young children watching Amanda Gorman recite this poem? How does it tie into representation in media and within activism? ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY: Can be completed in class or as an assignment Ask students to choose a cause that affects children worldwide and write their own creative piece. It could
UNIT 7: LESSON 4
be a poem, a short skit, or a song. Just ask them to channel their own inner Amanda Gormans.
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Lesson 5 Peaceful Protest as a Tool for Social Change Peaceful protests have always been a powerful weapon to generate social change and to advocate for social justice. The Black Lives Matter protests are a means to make visible that the US government has failed to address police brutality against Black Americans in the United States, that racial discrimination is still a reality and that it needs to be addressed with urgency. The right of protest can be legally exercised if it is done in a peaceful and non-violent manner. The year 2020 will be a historic year in American history. Social and civil unrest exploded in 2020 as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought unprecedented deaths, a massive increase in unemployment rates with much higher rates among Black and Hispanic workers as compared with White workers - and anger at long-standing racism and racial inequities in the country. Between March and May of 2020, abusive policing and racial injustice claimed two new victims, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. Both were Black victims of deadly police brutality in the context of poorly planned raids and an abusive use of force by White police officers. In the year 2022 alone, the FBI recorded 11,643 hate crimes in the United States. Systemic racism against Black Americans is still rampant in the US. Discrimination is complex and multifaceted, and it is present not only in State or public structures but also in civil society in general. Discrimination affects the way people are treated in all spheres of society: politics, education, employment, social and medical services, housing, the penitentiary/criminal system, law enforcement and the administration of justice in general. The pandemic threw all these blatant inequities into sharp focus, and it was no longer possible to ignore them. Nonviolent resistance and Satyagraha are important tools underlying peaceful movements like Black Lives Matter or the 100 Million Campaign founded by Nobel Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi to eradicate child labor and promote children’s right to education. To tackle these problems in a cohesive manner, apart from building the Global March Against Child Labor, “he conceived, shaped, launched and led one of the biggest civil society initiatives, called the Global Campaign for Education by linking the issue of child labor with education and encouraging international NGOs, teachers unions, and civil society organizations to work together.” Kailash Satyarthi recognizes that child empowerment should be one of the greatest priorities of every civilization. He has shown that protests can be effective and a powerful tool to encourage social change. However, peaceful protest will not guarantee that protesters will not be met with unlawful use of force by
UNIT 7: LESSON 5
police, who often abuse their power and force in the name of maintaining or restoring public order.
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TERMS TO KNOW
Peaceful Protest The Kenyan School House Campaign 100 Million Campaign Global March Against Child Labor
ESSENTIAL QUESTION
Why was there social and civil unrest in the United States in 2020?
SUGGESTED RESOURCES Children of Bal Ashram 100 Million Campaign Children of Bal Ashram Study Guide Global March Against Child Labor #SayHerName Campaign to visualize police brutality against black women Darnella Frazier public statement on how witnessing George Floyd took a part of her and her 9-year-old cousin’s childhood. Operation Days Work (3mins 32 secs)
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Lesson 5 Peaceful Protest as a Tool for Social Change
ACTIVITY INTRODUCTION: The Kenyan Schoolhouse Campaign This activity will introduce students to the background behind an active campaign. Campaigns are formed in many ways and come out of many circumstances. Encourage them to think critically and consider creative ways the Kenyan Schoolhouse could move forward with fundraising and outreach. PREPARATION BEFORE THE ACTIVITY: Have copies of the “Kenyan Schoolhouse Story” worksheet 7.4 (pg. 205) printed or available online for students. ACTIVITY DURATION: 45 MINUTES ACTIVITY OUTLINE: 1. Have copies of the “Kenyan Schoolhouse Story”. Read it out loud as a class. 2. Start by discussing the circumstances behind this account. How did these children end up in this situation? Revisit the 4 P’s that they learned about in Unit One. How do Policy, Prejudice, Profiting and Poverty play into these circumstances? Encourage students to think critically. What is the crux of the issue here? This is a firsthand account. What did the activists do right? EX: Engaging and funding local groups, taking immediate action, etc. What could they have done better? 3. Break students into groups and have them imagine they are in the same situation these activists were in. What would their plan of action be? Who would they reach out to? Explain to students that Kenyan Schoolhouse is still in action. Show Geoffrey Speaks to Students at His Former School. ALTERNATIVE ACTION:
UNIT 7: LESSON 5
Establish a chapter of Operation Days Work at your school!
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Today, you are the reporter. Use this interactive map by UNHCR and the IRC’s Top 10 Crises the World Can't Ignore list to investigate an active refugee situation. As a reporter, it is important to know all of the information before writing your story. We are going back to basics! Use this classic Who, What, When, Where, and Why outline to help guide you as you examine an active refugee situation. Do not stay within the constraints of the questions on this page, explore the resources you are using and write down anything you find interesting or important. That could include quotes, facts, stories, or observations, anything to make your report accurate and three-dimensional. Use UN factsheets and situation updates from reputable sources to answer questions such as the following. Who? Develop your understanding of the population at risk in the refugee situation you are investigating. Who are the populations that have been forcibly displaced? How many registered refugees are there? How about reported newly arrived individuals in need of international protection? What populations are at risk? Who has mainly been affected? What is the average demographic among the individuals affected? Are they mostly women and children? What is the average age? Can you find any firsthand accounts or stories from people affected?
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What? What is actively taking place? How are these people being treated? Are they safe? Are mechanisms in place to support them? Has this situation gotten better or is it getting worse? When? Understand the background of this situation. When did this situation begin? Use timelines and background information to understand the history of this crisis in terms of numbers, events, and individuals affected. Where? Where are the individuals who have been displaced from originally? Where have they been displaced to? Are they in refugee camps? What are the conditions like?
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Why? Take your time understanding the full truth of what led up to this situation. What took place leading to this crisis? What global events are contributing to the situation? What political issues? Are discriminatory components at play? How? How is this going to get better? What government and nongovernmental organizations are involved in resolving this situation? Who is supporting the forcibly displaced people? How?
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**Before showing these videos in class or assigning them to students, issue a content warning. These videos contain themes of physical and sexual violence, discussions of war, and other harsh themes. Make sure your students know they are in a safe space and are aware of the mental health resources available to them** Ask students to watch the following videos from the perspective of refugee children all over the world: Child refugees - Democratic Republic of Congo Hamze- Iraq Yusra- Syria Rubena- Myanmar Ask them to reflect (either in class or independently) on the similarities and differences between these stories. Regardless of the thousands of miles separating these situations, what are the common themes? The shared
WORKSHEET 7.2
experiences?
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Protests and marches are important, but so are our daily conversations, how we interact with our friends and family, what we talk about at the dinner table. Think back to the opinion scale activity you did in class, choose an opinion you felt strongly about. This worksheet will help you develop your toolkit in expressing your claim. Imagine yourself having a spirited discussion with someone who feels the absolute opposite from you about this issue…how would they challenge your statements? Are you prepared with evidence to support your point of view? Start by finding evidence that supports your claim. Search reputable sources and keep these resources available to call on in your future discussions. FOR EXAMPLE: “I feel strongly that climate change is the number one threat to children worldwide” 1. _____ -reputable source 2. _____ -reputable source 3. _____ -reputable source Now, think of the top three counter arguments that someone might use against you in discussing this issue. 1. __________ 2. __________
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3. __________ Find resources from reputable sources that give you evidence to help counter these arguments. 1. Argument one counter source: 2. Argument two counter source: 3. Argument three counter source: It is important to not only understand your own view, but the other side of the issue as well. In researching the counter arguments, you may find yourself rethinking or redefining your opinion or claim. That’s okay! Having all of the information helps us to have informed discussions centered on fact and truth that can help further human rights for all.
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Sylvie’s Story In the summer of 2003, Len Morris and his crew were in a coffee plantation in Kenya, attempting to film children picking coffee. They were warned for months that they’d never get that footage. They’d been told they’d never get permission to enter Kenya, they’d never be allowed on the plantations and they were warned that the children would run when they saw a camera for fear of losing their jobs and meager income. They went to Kenya anyway. Len recalls: “We had been in Kenya for at least a week attempting to get the footage to prove that children under 14 were 60% of the workforce, working 16 hours a day, covered in pesticides that would burn their eyes and shorten their lives. All to pick the coffee beans were sold in the United States at a four to eight thousand percent markup for the profit of 5 companies that, at that time, controlled 80% of the coffee import business, filled with children working silently in 100 plus degrees. I noticed that 90% of the workers were female. That young girls often picked with babies on their backs. That some families had three generations pickinggrandma, mother and child, with a great grandchild on the ground, exposed to the same chemicals as the rest. If a man was present, he generally was a foreman carrying a club, issuing orders and looking for me to give him money for the privilege of visiting the field he controls. He certainly had no clue we
WORKSHEET 7.4
were filming. After a few minutes of this, we were introduced to a tall, skinny and very shy girl of about 12 years of age. Her name was Sylvie and she was one of the ones working alongside her entire female clan. On her leg, and heel, Sylvie had an angry black abscess, the sort of infection that to my untrained eye looked like it could lead to serious trouble, I imagined the worst. I knew that the wound had to be very painful but Sylvie was smiling shyly at us. I was completely taken with this rail-thin girl who didn’t understand one word of what I had to say.
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I told my son to get the medical kit out of the van. He looked at me for just a few seconds and then disappeared for the mile or so to run back to the van to get the kit. In this part of Kenya, there is virtually no medical care available. We had passed clinics that were either closed or stripped bare of medical supplies of any kind. Not even an aspirin. And we knew that after a 16-hour day of work, Sylvie would return to a village with no sanitary facilities, where animals mingle with humans in thatched huts, where the water is filthy and malnutrition and hunger are a constant. Our situation was quite the opposite. We would leave the fields and rinse away the dirt and pesticides with a hot shower. Sylvie would simply go home to her village - a considerable walk at the end of the day. Her village, and the school she should be attending, if she could afford to, were both on plantation landwholly owned and controlled by the same people exploiting her as cheap labor. We began to pull into pharmacies in Nairobi and to buy any medical supplies we might need on the plantations. Three days later we showed up in the fields and Sylvie was waiting for us with her smile blazing away. And so was the rest of the village, lined up for medical care, probably fifty people with maladies of all sorts. More scrapes, chiggers, cuts, a few broken bones, babies with high fevers… the full range of health issues, way more than we could possibly handle or have a clue about. The babies I simply sent to the hospital. $9 would open the doors to emergency treatment. It seemed cheap at the time. Especially looking into the face of a tiny baby burning up with fever. We spread out two tarps and began to help anybody with a wound we might be able to clean, etc. We worked for a few hours doing this. As we left, the list of needed supplies expanded and we made two more stops at pharmacies. I felt empowered by what we were doing. It was so real and immediate, and I was so touched by their open smiles. Back in 2003-2004, it cost about $50 a year for a child to go to primary school in Kenya. They called it cost sharing. It was a sum that none of the families experiencing poverty, earning less than a dollar a day, could pay. So their kids
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picked coffee instead of getting an education. After 6 weeks of filming and doctoring, we found ourselves in the village one last time. Suddenly an impulse took hold, a very naïve impulse, to take these children we’d come to know a bit and change their future, starting immediately. So we took pictures of all of the children not in school - there were about 30 of them in the first round; another 30 would be added to a wait list. We divided the cost of a year’s tuition and simply paid it. We asked the local organization’s social worker to make sure the kids got into school, had their fees paid and then we prepared to leave Kenya, satisfied that we’d done something more than just record the suffering of these kids. I went to an event once where the Dalai Lama spoke about helping other people. He said that helping others can be done for personally selfish reasons and he called it, “Good selfish”. On the day before departure, we visited Sylvie at her school. Sylvie approached me and spoke directly to me, “Will I ever see you again?” Fortunately for Sylvie, our hometown is willing to offer time, help and money. As of today, nearly 2000 children have been educated, fed, clothed and received medical care from The Kenyan Education Fund. Today, three of the children we met on coffee plantations are attending college. I last saw Sylvie at one of the finest boarding schools in Kenya in 2006. She ran
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up to me and put her arms around me. She had filled out, no more malnutrition. She told me she wanted to be a lawyer and “protect poor people from losing their land to rich landowners, who then exploit the children.”
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Becoming active in the fight for awareness and elimination of child labor can be a promising and whole-hearted adventure. Therefore, having the right tools and guidance is essential to create the greatest possible impact. Having an emotional connection to people and their stories is one of the biggest sources of inspiration, especially with such a complex problem that can only be solved if enough people unite and get organized to demand the elimination of child labour and accountability from governments and companies. A good start is to know your rights and learn from the past to better understand the context of the issue and how it affects peoples’ lives. Get informed to know the state of child labor your area and the world; education is key to be able to stand up for the cause and raise awareness on the effects of child labor and why it is important to keep children in school instead of working. Sensitizing others about the topic is key to inspiring others to take action, and connecting with like-minded individuals can increase the impact of your efforts. That is why it is so important to join a local group and to keep strong bonds with your support network. Taking care of yourself is primary to keeping up the fight. Commit to small actions to bring great improvements to the children affected. Small actions like donating money, signing petitions, posting on social media, writing letters can be a starting point for bigger awareness and fundraising campaigns, where friends, family and key community members can contribute through concerts, plays, murals, presentations and public debates. Online campaigns can also be done locally for a global impact. The use of blogs, social media, creating videos, memes, online petitions and jokes are just a few examples of how words travel fast and effectively inspire action on the spot. Another powerful way to bring change is writing letters to companies or organizations that employ and profit from child labor. A well-written letter with evidence and clear statements of what is expected to change is key.
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It is important to be aware of interconnections of laws and the intersectionality of social norms. Assess your own standing in a given system and avoid perpetuating the very inequalities you wish to challenge. Avoid misrepresentations. Amplify the voices of those who have experienced these issues firsthand; this builds trusted relationships and empowers local voices to consider public leadership. Creating bonds with mentors and allies within systems of power is also vital. Speak up to promote a peaceful and egalitarian culture. Think about what the goal is – acts of solidarity – letting them know they are not alone – or is it to invite someone to think differently about a certain topic or behavior? The Media Voices Blog and Magazine strongly encourages and amplifies children and youth voices and art. What are the new ideas you can come up with to raise awareness and funds to combat child labor? Every person and action counts. SUGGESTED RESOURCES: Youth Participatory Politics The Harambee Way of Life 75 School Fundraising Ideas I Will Be A Hummingbird - Wangari Maathai Two Girls, Two Different Stories
WORKSHEET 7.5
Youth-Led Activism to build a better world
With this activity students will create an awareness/fundraising campaign. The goal is to design an executable campaign to educate and empower younger students about their rights and put into practice their campaigning skills to build child labor-free communities, locally and globally. This will allow them to share what they have learned and directly push for good practices to better choose daily products and become change makers for the present and future they want to live in.
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The awareness/fundraising campaign will impact their schools, families and communities as well as inspire new leaders to find solutions to real life problems while helping real people. Using the Actions Steps as a guide, encourage your students to create an awareness campaign against child labor such as a fundraising campaign for the Kenyan Schoolhouse program or another direct-action initiative: Invite them to put into action what they’ve learned to bring information for display. Students are strongly encouraged to leverage products created during previous lessons as addition for the campaign (e.g. poems, art, comics, songs, activities, photos, videos, among others) Share your student’s ideas, work and school impact on social media using: #ActionStepsToEndChildLabor & #WeDoChildRights @mediavoicesforchildren Students will be encouraged to submit their complementary campaign elements such initiatives, poems, art, letters, photography/videos and/ or ideas to mediavoicesforchildren@gmail.com to become volunteers or get featured in the magazine, social media or website.
ACTIVITY OUTLINE: Make sure your students know exactly what they want to achieve. Results should be measurable to mark the progress when they finish, and it should be relevant to the main goal and fit within a planned time-frame. How will they present information to create awareness? What type of activities can be planned to fundraise? Who are potential donors? Who are their allies? Who is the audience? Can the school infrastructure be used for the campaign activities?
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ACTION STEPS for your class campaign
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FOCUS YOUR VISION Use the funnel to help your class come together to pick an issue to collectively campaign for. Remember be specific, realistic, and most importantly choose something that speaks to you!
Call out issues that speak to you! This is a space for any and all ideas! Go wild!
Each person selects one issue they want to campaign for here:
Group similar ideas together. Now take a vote!
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ROOT CAUSE TREE TOOL Now that you have selected what you are campaigning for, use the root cause tree tool to explore it from the ground up!
leaves What problems do you see facing your local, national, or global community?
trunk What structures, practices and policies institutionalize the problem? Why do these policies exist?
roots What are the underlying historical, social or economic roots causes of these problems?
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DETERMINING YOUR DEMANDS Now that you have analyzed the root causes, you are ready to name your solution. Organizers often refer to their solutions as demands. A demand is a specific policy change or action that you seek to win from a decision maker. Your demands should address the structural and cultural factors of the problem–the trunk in the Root Cause Tree Tool. One way to ensure you create strong demands for your campaign is to make them S.M.A.R.T.
Specific
Measureable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely
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CREATING A STRATEGY A strategy is an essential part of organizing because it helps you understand how each step you take will move you closer to winning your demands. A strategy can be defined as the method of building enough power to influence a decision maker to give you what you want.
demands
targets
current resources
potential supporters
Demands we want to WIN!
Primary target:
What we have:
Who cares about this issue enough to help or join us?
Understanding your target:
What we need:
Secondary target:
How will you reach out to potential supporters?
tactic Tactics (actions) to move your target to meet your demands:
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WE ARE ALL STORYTELLERS: Storytelling & Artistic Activism The stories you use to communicate your campaign are incredibly important. You each have stories inside you waiting to come out. Some of you may know this, and others of you may never have realized you have this ability. All you need is a little encouragement, some support and the opportunity. It might be your own personal story that reveals who you are, or it might be the stories of those whose voices cannot be heard that is waiting to be expressed. Just remember, you are part of a heritage of storytellers. Humans have used stories throughout our history on this earth. Cave paintings, for example, dating over 30,000 years old around the world used images and symbols to tell stories that resonate still with us today. We continue to listen to the songs, the poems, and the plays of our ancestors, just some of the vehicles stories use to reach us. It is in our blood to tell and listen to stories. Our actions shape the stories of our daily lives, and those stories feed into the much larger global story. Each of you has a story to tell, it might seem ordinary but even the most ordinary details weave together to form the rich tapestries of our lives. A story can be oral, written, or artistic, and it may go beyond words... it can be anything else you decide it to be! Stories are the keepers of our reality; they shape our feelings, our relationships, our thoughts, and even our brains. For many stories are... alive; ever-changing they breathe life into our past, present, and future. We can aspire to be part of a greater story, a movement of storytellers who seek to connect, to change, and to heal. The lessons, activities, and suggested resources presented in this curriculum show how people worldwide have used stories to bring about positive change through activism. Let them guide you! Let them inspire you!
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Dear Educator, Whether you are just joining us, or have taught Childhood Unbound all the way through thank you. You have taken a step in educating the next generation of change-makers. In building this curriculum, it was always our goal to equip teachers with resources from a wide range of sources and voices that would help you empower students to become ambassadors of their own learning. Now is the time to help the students take action with what they’ve learned. To close out Childhood Unbound, we encourage you to give your students the space to be the activists they are. Take on a campaign as a class, it could be in support of a cause they learned about in a previous unit of this curriculum, an issue in the news they feel passionate about, or something they want to take on in their school or community. Use what you have learned, referring back to the activities and suggested resources in units 1 through 7, as well as the action steps at the end of the curriculum, to help you guide your class in creating a successful campaign. Share your stories with us! mediavoicesforchildren@gmail.com or on instagram @mediavoicesforchildren. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” - Margaret Mead. Happy change-making :) Media Voices Team
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Photo Credits Front and Back covers, pgs i, iii, 3, 6, 14, 18, 28, 32, 50, 55, 62, 69-70, 74, 81-82, 89-90, 91-92, 93-94, 97-98, 99-100, 103, 104, 107-108, 109-110, 114, 120, 121-122, 129-130, 143-144, 153-154, 157-158, 165-166, 168, 175-176, 177-178, 179-180, 195-196, 199-200, 202 © Melissa Blythe Knowles pgs. 1-2, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15, 16, 23, 33-34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 42, 44, 46, 47, 48, 59-60, 61, 63-64, 67, 68, 75, 76, 83-84, 123124, 125-126, 131, 132, 135, 136, 137, 138, 140, 141-142, 146, 151-152, 161-162, 174, 183-184, 185-186, 189-190, 194 © U.R. Romano pg. 43 © ILO/Marcel Crozet Stock Images pg. 58, 77-78
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