Freedom by The 4C´s

Articles written by students after working with the topic

In Mai 2015, before our mobility meeting in Poland.

Indhold Freedom, what is it? .......................................................................................................................................... 2 FREEDOM of choice .......................................................................................................................................... 4 FREEDOM

- you can´t take it for granted ....................................................................................... 6

Freedom Is for everybody .................................................................................................................................. 7 Freedom, struggling for freedom ...................................................................................................................... 8 Freedom by the dictionary and freedom in a democratic state ..................................................................... 10 FREEDOM ..................................................................................................................................................... 12 IN OUR SCHOOLS...................................................................................................................................... 12

“Challenging Communication in a Committing Community” Side 1 af 13

Freedom, what is it? How would you define “freedom”? In today‟s world a lot of people think that freedom is when you can do what you want and say what you want. And it is true in fact, but on the other hand when you live with no limits you can make some bad decisions and get addicted to some things, and then become a victim of them which means you‟re not free anymore. So again, what is freedom? There are some simple examples, like: freedom of speech (you‟re allowed to express your own opinion and no one can complain about it), freedom of religion, freedom of choice or political freedom but it‟s not everything that makes a human life free. People need to feel safe and loved by other people in the place or country they live in, so that‟s an important condition for feeling free. A lot of countries fought really hard in the past to be free and independent today. World‟s history is full of battles for freedom. There were people who thought they could get what they want from another population just because they have a strong and rich country. It disturbed human‟s freedom and it definitely wasn‟t right. But it hasn‟t stopped. In present there are still some places where people take someone‟s freedom just because they have another religion, they have a different colour of skin or they said something “wrong”. People all over the world are eager for freedom. Many people are involved in helping each other. They create organizations. “Amnesty International” is one of them: An organization focusing on human rights with over 7 million members and supporters around the world. The stated objective of the organisation is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated. Amnesty has the longest history and broadest name recognition, and is believed by many to set standards for the movement as a whole. It‟s beautiful that in this 21st century we still got people who selflessly want to help others. Being a good person, subsidiarity and empathy should be the most “fashionable” character trait of the world. There are lot of things, in our opinion really important in this world, and for every human. Every human needs his freedom, to live a good life. One of the most known things about people who did not have their freedom is slavery. Slavery means to take over people's freedom. We think that freedom is when you can do what you want to do, also when you can be who you want to be. You can follow your dreams, as when you were a child you had freedom, you were living and everything was possible, and you had freedom to do nearly everything, as long as you respect your parents rules. Rosa parks is a very well known freedom fighter, she was fighting for the black people's freedom, who have not always had their freedom, then people saw black people as slaves

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or as unimportant people. Separating black and white people is not to give them freedom. Rosa parks spent all her life on fighting for the black peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x;s rights. One day she was sitting in the front of the bus and refused to move from her seat for a white person, and for that she got arrested. Let's think about who we are in terms of sex, skin color, age, where we live or which god we believe in. Does it depend on us? No. We were born in define country, black or white, we are women or men, our religion depends on our family religion. So why have people been persecuted for who they were since ages? For almost 2000 years women were treated as housewives. All they should have been doing was cooking, cleaning and taking care of children. They could not study or work. They did not have voting rights. It was unacceptable. What does your sex change? Nothing, it should change nothing, but in reality it was changing everything. Men thought they were better, stronger or smarter than their wives, so women started to fight for their freedom.They were called feminists. Feminist: a person who advocates or supports to define, establish, and achieve equal political, economic, cultural, personal, and social rights for women. After many years they started to achieve their goals and regain freedom. These days women and men have the same rights almost everywhere.

War. The worst thing to do is to take over someone's country, someone's freedom. Since the end of the 18th century Poland was fighting for its independence. It was dreadful time for all polish people. Then after 123 years, after many wars, including I world war, we regained long awaited independence. It wasn't the end, but in the interwar period Poland started its development and industrialization. Cities began to form. But then in 1939 when the II world war broke out we were occupied again.The enemies were murdering not only soldiers but also civilians. Cities were being destroyed. It was something what polish people would never forget. We will always remember and praise people who were fighting for our country, for our freedom. Wars can sometimes give more freedom to one country, but at the same time take it away from others. Is it fair? Is it fair that a little poorer country lose its freedom just because stronger country authorities want it? Freedom is very different. It depends on where you are in the world and where you are in the country. In Denmark, we have a lot of freedom; we can do almost everything we want to. Because the definition of freedom is feel free and to have the rights to do whatever you want. It is different for every human what freedom is. Everyone have their own vision on what freedom is for them, maybe freedom for some people is that you can walk around outside with whatever clothes you want to wear. And maybe for some other people freedom is to have money to buy everything they want and need. But the most important thing is to feel free and safe being yourself.

Team nb.: 1 Bianca Svendsen, DK Natalia Szubert, Pl Kinga PrzyĹ&#x201A;ucka, Pl Nela RadliĹ&#x201E;ska, Pl Tatjana Svendsen, DK Side 3 af 13

FREEDOM

of choice

Freedom is when you are 18 years and you can make decisions for yourself and you can do everything you want. You explore the world and sail over the largest seas and climb the largest mountains. When you are younger there is freedom too, it is when you can say what you want and do what you want. Freedom is also when you can choose whom you want to marry. Whom you want to spent your life with. A lot of people don't have freedom, because they are living under 1 man that is the only one to rule the whole country. They don't know what freedom is because the ruler can choose not to let them see what happens out in the world. So they don't know what is happening out in Europe or America. Freedom is found in many ways. Freedom could be many things; freedom could for instance be to be able to drive a car. In Saudi Arabia Women can‟t drive a car, they can be passengers, but they can‟t drive. That‟s because women is a lower rank than men. I mean that women and men should have the same civil rights. Denmark is a very civilized country, all though there are still some differences between a woman and a man. There isn‟t equal pay in Denmark, women and men don‟t get the same pay for the same work. Another example is to choose your own religion. In Nigeria you can‟t choose your own religion if you live in occupied areas. Boko Haram is a terror organization who won‟t allow other religions than Islam. People who can‟t quote the Kural will be killed immediately. It is not freedom when your religion decides what you can do. An example is Muslim women who have to wear a Burka or a scarf. The Legislation Sharia who decides what women should wear and how you are a good Muslim. Women need to wear Burka in Sharia and men need to have beard. My personal opinion is that for instance Burka is not freedom, it‟s force to cover yourself. I think that people should decide for themselves how to live. FREE CHOICE IS FREEDOM. Everybody got their own definition of freedom. Muslims thinks, that every woman should wear hijab and stay at home, boys should be aggressive and dominant, same as people in Europe formerly. Christians thinks that we should live in peace, and everybody should be equal. I think that women should be a woman, and a man should be man. It's not about that every single man should work all day and women should stay at home and do the housework. If a woman likes to work in big corporations, she should have chance to do it, but many of them prefer to have a husband, children and live with their family. We can say "In Christianity you

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have ten main commandments which you must do, so it's not fully freedom". I think that they were made to keep peace between the people, not to command them, - same in Islam. Somebody might ask now "So why do we have wars if the religious background is to make peace?". We got them because we have different outlooks. Each one thinks that his look is correct, but they are totally different. In my opinion everybody should live how he likes, but without interfering in foreign life. Freedom has got a lot of symbols. When you hear freedom you think about a dove. It is the most recognizable symbol of freedom. The dove gained the status symbol of peace and freedom in the Old Testament. The modern symbol "dove of peace" was created by Pablo Picasso, who was a member of the French Communist Party. He did it during the "World Congress of Intellectuals for Peace" in 1948 in Wroclaw.

The second, also a well-known symbol of freedom is New York's Statue of Liberty. The monument was a gift from the French government for the United States on the centenary of the Declaration of Independence. It was built in France and handed over in 1884 to the American ambassador in Paris. Then it was dismantled into parts and sent by ship to New York. The unveiling took place on 28 October 1886 and made by the president Grover Cleveland.

The symbols of freedom are also the people. One of the people who are symbolized with freedom is Martin Luther King. He was a pastor and an activist for equality and the elimination of racial discrimination. In 1964 he won the Nobel Peace Prize, and in 1963 he became the man of the Year by the magazine "Time". He was murdered April 4, 1968 by the opponents of equality for black people.

Polish man of freedom is Lech Walesa. He was a Polish politician and union activist. He was the first chairman of "Solidarity". In 1990, he became President of Polish. In 1983 he won the Nobel Peace Prize, and in 1981 he became the man of the Year by the magazine "Time".

Team nb.: 2 Jonas Helleberg, DK Jakub KmieÄ&#x2021;, Pl Rasmus Thomsen, DK Jakub Sroka, Pl

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FREEDOM - you can´t take it for granted Freedom isn‟t a thing we can have in our hands. It‟s a thing that we just have. Some places don‟t have freedom, they miss it so much. You know you‟re free when you can do what you want, and no one can tell you not to. WE ARE VERY LUCKY IN DENMARK, we don‟t have to fight for our freedom. Someone has already fought for us a long time ago. When you look at other countries you can see that they don‟t have as much freedom as us. I feel bad every time I see someone who is not free. Birds are a symbol of freedom, they are wild and free. They can do what they want; they can fly wherever they want. But there is still this one bird, the swan. The swan is free it can fly wherever it wants to. But it still stays in Denmark, why? Why would it stay in Denmark, when it could fly where ever it wanted too? So why is Denmark such a lovely place? I can tell you, Denmark is a lovely place because we have freedom! We have freedom to do what we want. We are not bonded of anything. That‟s why the swan stays in Denmark, because we are not bonded to anything. You know you have freedom with your friends when you can be yourself. Not when you have to change just to be with them, then they‟re not your real friends. Your family can show you freedom too, by giving you the chance of living your own life. But when the family controls you, then it‟s not freedom. The meaning with freedom is to be free, free like a bird. This is something a good friend of mine said: „‟People want to rule themselves and be able to do as they wish when they wish but they refuse to see the negatives that come with it. Like chaos and anarchy pain and suffering it‟s all real and it does happen but it‟s when people live by laid out rules (in this case the government's rules) that we can still express ourselves freely and be able to act as we wish within the boundary of the law.” To me most laws are fine, they keep us safe and keep order even if we only see the negatives and they teach us lessons as to why we shouldn‟t break them. So overall there is no true freedom in our world but there is limited freedom that helps us stay in control.‟‟ Freedom is one of the most important things human can have. Thanks to it, people can have normal life. They don‟t have to be afraid of anything and they are able to express their views and decide for themselves. Unfortunately not all countries are free. People there live in fear. We should be very happy to have a free Poland in contrast to our predecessors who lived without freedom in times of war and sadness. We should be thankful that they fought for 123 years so that we could live in peaceful, full of freedom country. Signs and symbols which we recognise with freedom

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But even in free countries people often say they‟re not 100% free. They say that they‟re limited by something and they can‟t do whatever they want. Things that can limit you can be: work, family, relationships. But to have some limits is also a good thing. Anarchy can destroy everything. Of course freedom should be limited in a measure. Not having it is also a bad thing. People associated with freedom are interracial: Lech Wałęsa and Józef Piłsudzki (from Poland), Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Napoleon Bonaparte. People often don‟t know what freedom means and they don‟t know why it is so important neither. It‟s one of the most serious things in our life. Freedom is very needed in these times. I‟m so lucky that I can live in free country - Poland. Only a free person can be really happy and can decide about her/himself. A freedom is kind of selection, where you can choose your way. The example of this type of people is “Romeo and Juliet‟‟. Not just people can be free but countries too (like I‟ve written in fourth sentence). Freedom is a dream for many people. Sometimes you must fight to get it. You feel freedom after you lose it. It‟s in our hands and we must appreciate it. People have fought for freedom hundreds years ago and it was for us. When you‟re free, you don‟t have to be afraid of talking, people etc. It hurts when you see a person without freedom. There are many signs of freedom, for example a sky or a bird.

Team nb.: 3 Søren Ulrik Ilsøe, DK Katarzyna Kołodziejczak, Pl Patrycja Gajewska, Pl Mads T: Bertelsen, DK mads.t.b@outlook.dk

Freedom

Is for everybody

Freedom is a lot of stuff. You can feel free just by getting to say what you want to say, you can be free just by having money food and a bed, a lot of people don‟t have a bed, a roof to sleep under but they still feel free. You don‟t have to have a lot of money to be free. You don‟t necessarily have to be successful to feel free. You don't have to be famous to feel free. People can feel free just by having 2 or 3 friends that really support them and always is there to help them if the need it. For me freedom is the ability to do what I want and say what I want, but there will always be someone that doesn‟t like what you are saying or doing, because they have another opinion. If you want to be a top athlete people will try to

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stop you and pull you down, but you have the freedom to do what you want to do with your life. If you have a handicap, it doesn‟t mean you can‟t do what you want to do. Freedom is a great gift, but also expensive. Freedom is not money but peace and justice. You are lucky if you have it, but for some people it is easy while for others it is difficult. It should be equal for all, not some who should be more important than others because of colour or what to believe or where you come from. Everyone should have equal rights. You must have the right to speak your mind without one is looked down upon. Everyone should get a chance and have freedom. Freedom is a right to live think and learn. We‟ve got to remember that free doesn‟t mean out of law. Because for example you can be free to talk to other people but not to insult them. Law is the border of what a free man can do. By freedom I mean living without chains on you, without any organisation or outlaws spying on us, without anyone telling you what you should say. A free man can have a job, family, house. He doesn‟t have to though, which can also mean that he is free. People without freedom are usually unaware of anything that is happening in the world.

Team nb.: 4 Emil Brik Jensen, DK Thomas Sejer Petersen, DK Jan Puciłowski, Pl Filip Raczkowski, Pl

Freedom,

struggling for freedom

Nelson Mandela fought for the black people. He fought so much that he came to jail for a long time. Martin Luther King fought for freedom and the black people. There were so many people who fought for the black people. I mean/think that freedom is a very big thing and everybody should have freedom. Live our lives as we want to. Do what we want to do, but there should also be some rules, otherwise it would become a chaos. Some countries do not have freedom, and we can see it's not good. North Korea has a dictator, and we know that he decide everything in North Korea. It's bad, that it shall be like that, but there

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are some countries that have freedom, and some countries which do not have freedom. These countries without freedom are not totally perfect, but I think, it's much more fun with some freedom. Back to Nelson Mandela. He is a big man in the history, because he fought for the black people and some years later after fighting for the black people freedom, he won his fight, so nearly all the black people got free. Freedom is a very important thing. In European countries were revolutions to get that. Also in Poland. Our „famous‟ revolutionist is Lech Wałęsa. He co-founded Solidarity and won Nobel Peace prize in 1983. Wałęsa was organising walkouts versus Polish government and in 1990 he became President of Poland. It was a beginning of changes in political and economic system. In 17th century in France was revolution. That shows how people need freedom. They were fighting against king and nobility, and they won. We can say that freedom always wins.

Subject of being free is moved in many branches. From art and books to music and television. Perhaps the best known painting is “La Liberté Guidant le peuple” of Eugene Delacroix which shows women (liberty) with the flag of France and crowd of warriors. In music Freddy Mercury from Queen sings „I want to break free!‟ from unrequited love, it‟s an element of freedom. Being free from sorrows, speech freedom, religious freedom, economic freedom, independence, that is all included in one, important words: FREEDOM = LIBERTY. It‟s an inspiration for artists, philosophical stream. It‟s an engine, something that pushes us forward. Freedom is different for humans, people in jail want to get out in the free world but they can‟t. People who are poor want to live in a house, not the street they want to work and earn money that is freedom for poor people. But normal people who work every day, and have money some of them want to be free from work, and just get rich and live in a house. So freedom is not the same for everyone, also people with a different religion they have rules for freedom. A Muslim is not allowed to eat pig, and some of the women need to cover their face with scarves, and their husbands decide everything. Just like in Denmark a 100 years ago; men decided everything and the women got nothing to say, until they got to vote in 1915. We also have freedom of speech, which also can be a problem. Like a Danish journalist drew a Mohammed drawing, and the Muslim got angry they burned the Danish flag, and they tried to kill the man who drew it. So freedom is not good always.

Team nb.: 5 Patrick Fyhn Madsen, DK Mateusz Drobinski, Pl Tobias Skov Nielsen, DK Victoria Perić, Pl

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Freedom by the dictionary and freedom in a democratic state Freedom is a large subject; it's not the same for everyone. Everybody have their own thoughts about what freedom is. What is freedom you ask; Freedom is a thought, a thought that describes what you want, and how you want it to be; freedom is the right to do as one wants. But when you have thoughts about what you want and how you want it, you have to inform people around you about it, but that‟s not as easy as it sounds, because everyone does not have the same way of thinking as you, so they will have different thoughts about what freedom is. And that‟s why we have leaders and/or democracy; they help establish a kind of freedom by creating several rules to prevent people from disliking each other and to stop people from creating a conflict. The intention with the rules is to make the largest amount of people pleased and satisfied, by finding the centre of their definitions about what freedom. The word "freedom" is a magical word, and sometimes it is a word people will fight for. Freedom is not an easy word to describe, because each person understands the meaning of freedom in specific for him/her way. Wikipedia says: "Freedom (...) is the power or right to do as one wants". That's the basic definition of what freedom is, but in a modern, democratic country the meaning of freedom has changed somehow. People just don't notice that, but we're not that "free" as we can imagine. Of course no one will interfere on your daily decisions such as what to eat or what to wear, but you're not supposed to do everything you can think about. If you run naked publicly you would probably get some kind of punishment, it's the same with destroying someone's stuff or smoking in "no smoking" zone. Of course your freedom allows you to do these things but with performing such actions also comes responsibility. People have freedom of speech but they don't have freedom to insult others, let them feel offended. What I mean is even though you‟re a free, independent person; your freedom has to stay shaped in borders. If you'd like to do whatever you want there's always a possibility to move to a desert island, but as long as you live in democratic country which has tons of laws, rights and bans also, you can't impose your freedom on someone‟s life. In Denmark, we have the freedom to choose, whom we want to marry, and also just who we want to deal with. We have the freedom to choose what kind of job or education we want. We also have the freedom to choose weather we‟d rather live in the City or live in the countryside. Freedom means a lot to almost everyone, and some people are freer than others. In Denmark, we are lucky to have freedom of expression, which means that we have the right to say what we want to. For some people freedom means everything, and for others it doesn‟t mean that much. For some, freedom means the right to make their own decisions. What is the diametrical contrast of freedom? Control is the contrast. Because how can we talk about freedom and control at the same time, when those two things are completely different? We see control everywhere and different kinds of control as well. Actually, in some of our houses, we have alarms to control that no uninvited guests show up. Also, the clothes in stores has alarms in it, to control we don't steal it. Besides alarms, you can talk about the police and guards, who are there to control us, but also to protect our freedom.

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Can we imagine full freedom? A world without any law, rights, restrictions? What would it look like then? People doing different things? Bad things? Not thinking of consequences. It‟s not a good view of the globe, is it? We can‟t decide about everything, but as far as we can decide about ourselves there‟s nothing to complain about. Freedom gives us the feeling of happiness. Making our own decisions, deciding on our future, it makes us feel independent. Everyday dilemmas like what to eat or what to wear are our definition of freedom. Following up this line of thought, we can‟t impose anything on anybody. We can‟t just divest them of freedom. Everybody has their own way of living and we should fully respect it. That‟s probably one of the hardest things to learn. Your freedom should harmonise with others‟ freedom. That could really help us avoiding our little fights and international conflicts. Furthermore, we can‟t let anybody impose on our freedom. Remember, your future depends on your present decisions. How could you let anybody make them for you?

Team nb.: 6 Trine Wind, DK Szeląg Aleksandra, Pl Jeppe Lund , DK Hubert Wolfram, Pl

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FREEDOM IN OUR SCHOOLS How much free are we in our schools? What are the things that we can and can’t do? We are going to write about aspects of freedom at schools in Denmark, Turkey, Poland and Romania. Poland In Poland, we are learning about freedom a lot, we have to write many essays about it. On some lessons we are watching films about that. In our schools, for example, there are a lot of national symbols on the walls. In our school, teachers can‟t use corporal punishment. On lessons we must be quiet and we can‟t chat, but of course not all of us obey it. We are often judged on how we work in the classroom. Do we feel free there? Do we want to change something in our school? There are a lot of questions like that. First of course, rules, uniform, location, teachers … We know well that in other countries the situation is even worse so we don‟t grumble too much. Denmark In Denmark, students are learning about freedom. They can feel free in schools, because no one orders or judges them at school. Students can ask teachers about various information, talk during the breaks too. Sometimes, they have small pauses when they can play basketball or just chill. But in Denmark's schools, there are many rules, too. Students can't fight, drink alcohol or smoke. They can't use phone during the lessons, either. Although there are rules at their schools, they can still feel free and nice. The good side of freedom is much more than its bad sides in Denmark. People are happy and free there. I think that freedom has a limit but the limit is in a small extent in that country.

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Romania In Romania, you don't have many rights at school. The schooling starts at the age of seven. The first four years are taught by a single teacher. It is necessary until the 10th grade. The school ends when you finish the twelfth grade. From the 1st to the 8th grade, you aren't allowed to take your phone to the school. If you use any harmful things (drugs, cigarettes etc.) you will get refusal of access by school. You aren't allowed to behave in a bad manner to teachers. But you can talk to your teachers if you have personal problems. When you finish the 8th grade, you have to change your school. From the 9th to the 12th grade, you are allowed to leave your school, take your phone to the school. Life in a city school is very different from life in a rural school. An urban school will have over 100 or 200 students per year but rural schools are usually tiny, in villages. The urban schools are more advantageous than the rural schools. Turkey At schools in Turkey, you have to comply with these rules: 1-You can't play with your phone while you are listening to the lesson. 2-You can‟t make voice while your teacher is explaining something. 3-It is forbidden to chew gum in class. 4-You can‟t fight in class. 5-You have to wear school uniform. 6-You have to be respectful to everyone. 7-You should come to school on time. 8- You cannot get out of the class without permission. 9-You shouldn‟t make absenteeism. 10-You should do your homework regularly. 11-You can‟t smoke. 12-You can‟t use knife etc.

Team nb.: 7 Ali Ozan Zeren , T Seda Kaçar,T Martyna Matysek; Pl Kamila Kopyłowska, Pl

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