How to use this School page:

 

• On this page you will introduce yourself to the other groups/classes in your Learning Circle and post your challenge contributions. 
  
• We ask you to share not only the results, but also the learning process of how you discussed, planned, divided tasks etc..in your own group. 

 

Giving and receiving feedback:

 

• On this page you will also find text boxes for feedback received from other groups in your Circles.
• We ask you to give feedback to two other groups / classes in your Circle directly on their school page.
  Please click here for the feedback-schedule , it will guide you to the school pages.
• If you want to give feedback to another (additional, extra) group, please add it on the school page of that group or use the comment box at the bottom of the school page.

 

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Introduction: 

 

It has been nice to read and see all of the introductions here! We are a group of about 10 10th graders from the Canary Islands. Most, but not all of the students are also a part of the Model United Nations Program. My name is Andrea Parker and I am originally from Pennsylvania, U.S.A. I currently teach MUN, English and Social Studies. My colleague, Lina Saab also teaches English and MUN. She grew up in Liberia, but is Lebanese. Hopefully our students will soon be posting their video here!  

 

Please see our video here:

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Contributions Challenge 1:

 

Hello to all the students from all over the world!

 

We, The American School of Las Palmas, felt very close to this subject, as the right to a safe home, which is part of article 47 of the spanish constitution, is often violated in our own country. We realized that the best way of helping others in need is to first look at the world around you and help the ones closest to you. What we mean is that we often think that only developing countries face this type of violations of children's rights and we fail to see what is just in front of us. This challenge was very eye opening for us and we hope you all learned as much as we did from this. We decided to help and contribute by writing a poem and drawing a cartoon. We focused on the most artistic assignments as we emphasized on the emotional side of not having the right to a safe home because we believe facts are just not enough to bring out the empathy needed to really start seeking a long-term effective solution to this issue.

 

 

• Our cartoon:

 

-Our goal with this cartoon was to represent how, unfortunately, the more people have, the less

they are willing to give and how selfishness and being corrupted by power keeps humans from

contributing with the tiniest things that make huge differences in people's lives.

Made by Laura Santana, Elena Gonzalez and Cecilia Caceres 

 

 

 

• Our poem:

 

    I've walked miles to get water

   and I swear it's getting hotter

   after all my pain and struggles

   I arrive to my house in crumbles

 

   There is nor light nor a bed

   Not even a place to rest my head

   I can't hope for the roof to stay

   So I must cry my fears away

 

   I hear stories about a foreign land

   Where great houses and buildings stand

   I wonder, couldn't they help us?

   Make our lives as great as theirs

 

-Written by Raúl Santana, José Manuel Feijoo and Caden James Scates

 

 

• Our very own song: 

-Even though in the assignments there was an option of writing a song matching a melody and leaving the chorus unchanged, Carla Robaina and Valentine Godard, two very talented students, decided to write their very own song, which they even played at school with their guitars. Although this is not part of the challenge it has a very powerful message and we thought you might all enjoy it! 

 

 

 

-LYRICS:

 

So many children in the world

don’t have a peaceful place to stay

so many countries in the world

leave enough place for poverty

so many conflicts on this day

children can’t go outside and play

where in the world shall we find peace?

why can’t we help them live like us?

we have rights for a safe home

Lets be equal, lets be equal…

 

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Feedback from: National College BP Hasdeu

 

 

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Feedback from: Carmel College Salland

 

• Nice introduction.

• You have created a nice and inspiring own poem and song.

• Beautiful drawings.

 

 

 

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  We are having a Skype meeting with .............. group:
                                                        on .............. date 

                                                         at .............. pm/am

 

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Challenge 2: 

 

Step1: A conversation:

-We all sat around a big, boat-shaped wodden table with a paper with the written questions in the middle. We discussed, debated, and argued each and every one of the following questions until we all came with an answer. Even though it was hard sometimes, as we all didn't agree at some points, we all worked as a team and came up with the answers together. So if we can do it without any conflict, why can't politicians do it too? 

Oh well, we hope you all enjoy reading what we decided to share here, we can't wait to see what you all have done!

 

Article 28: Every child has the right to education. This means going to school to learn together.

 

• Going to school is a right and an obligation. Why do you think this is?

  - We think that attending ti school is a right and an obligation because education is like a key that can open a better, prosperous, and succesful future to children. As Nelson Mandela said: "Education is the most powerful weapon in the world". We strongly believe that education is key for the development of a nation.

 

• How important is it to you for every child to be able to go to school?

-Very important as it ensures the developing of a nation.

 

• What can you learn better in a school than outside of it?

-Theory, learning skills, things you don't see or learn in the streets and that you would never learn without certain information, often given by a teacher or read in a book.

 

• What can you learn better when you’re not in school?

-Things that only life can teach you and you can only learn by experiencing them yourself.

 

• What do you learn as a child from working and having a job?

-The struggles of hard working, something that no child should experience.

 

• From who do you learn the most? Your friends, your family, or your teachers?

-We believe you can learn different things from all of them, but we think that you can learn the most with your family, as they are the first influence in your life, then from your teachers, and finally from your friends.

 

• What can be reasons for so many children not going to school?

-Lack of resources such as infrastructures and transport, poverty and violation of rights

 

 

 

Article 31: Every child has the right to leisure and play. Time in which you can decide for yourself what you want to do.

 

• Why is it important to be able to play?

-Because being able to play is crucial for the healthy developing of a child, as it is a way to entertain themselves and be happy.

 

• What do you learn from playing?

-You learn how to interact with others and it improves your creativity and imagination.

 

• If you don’t want to go to football practice, but still have to go, can you still call it spare time?

-No, because spare time is time when you have time for yourself and only you decide what to do.

 

• Do you also learn things in your spare time? Give a few examples.

-Yes, spare time is a great opportunity to learn things about yourself.

 

• Who should make sure that you have enough spare time?

-Yourself and the people around you who influence you and have some control over your life, such as teachers or parents for example.

 

 

 

Article 32: "Every child has the right to protection against child labour."

 

• Do you think you should be able to choose yourself between going to school and working?

-No, you should be obligated to go to school unitl youre old enough.

 

• Does every child have to help his/her parents? With chores? With earning money?

- A child should have no responsibility on the household's economy and should only help with house chores for learning purposes and as long as it doesn't have a negative impact on their happiness and health and no parent should take advantage of their child.

 

• When is it good to let children have a job and earn money?

-Only when they are willing to do it for learning purposes and under good conditions that respect the child's rights.

 

• Does a school have to protect you against working too hard?

-Yes, as it is the school's responsibility to mantain a healthy environment and working too hard has been proven to increase stress and induce exhaustation, something that no school should be promoting.

 

• Should you earn money when you work hard at school?

-No. It is a child's duty to do so and should be motivated to be willing to work hard for no other prize than their own learning.

 

• Are you required to work as a child when your parents don’t make enough money?

-No, You are never required to work as a child, although we can understand how some families don't have much of a choice, we therefore think NGO's should aid poor families with children to avoid them working.

 

• What can we do in our country to stop child labour in different countries?

-Donate and participate with NGO's and spreading awareness of the issue.

 

 

 

Step 2: A letter to Urmila

 

• When we first read about Urmila we were utterly inspired by her accomplishments and bravery so we decided to write the following letter:

 

Dear Urmila,

First of all, we really admire you for what you have accomplished, you were once a kamalari for twelve years, which must have been something absolutely terrible and unfair, and the fact that you created the Kamalari Girls Forum to help all these girls suffering after having gone through that experience yourself gives us hope about humanity as it is such an act of pure kindness and love. People like you make this world a better place, and therefore, we thank you. We have some questions to ask you about all of this that we hope you can respond:

 

- What were the conditions during the twelve years you spent there? How were you treated?

 

- At the end of all of this, did you need to see a psychologist to help you get through it?

 

- How long after this period did you choose to help girls suffering from the kamalari system? 

 

- How did you learn English?

 

- What do you think about children's rights in the World?

 

- After everything you've been through, do you regret it or do you feel stronger about it?

 

- How important is child education to you? 

 

- How was it to see/meet your family after twelve years?

 

We would really like to receive an answer from you, to know and understand how you feel about this period of your life and what you did after it, you are a role model to the world, a true superhero!

 

By Raúl Santana, Laura Santana, Jose Feijoo, Elena González, Carla Robaina, Cecilia Cáceres, Caden Scates and Valentine Godard, students of The American School of Las Palmas.

 

 

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Feedback from: 

National College BP Hasdeu

A child shouldn’t have the right to choose when it comes to his education.

Children aren’t conscious when it comes to making decisions that affect their future.

Education should be free and mandatory.

Parents should give their children chores that are not in anyway abusive or exploitative.

The purpose of chores are to teach children responsibility.

Children should be able to have a job as long as it doesn’t affect their education.

 

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Feedback from: (add name of the group or class that gives feedback)

 

 

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We are having a Skype meeting with .............. group: 
                                                      on .............. date 

                                                       at .............. pm/am

 

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Completion:

 

We are eight students from The American School of Las Palmas; a small international school of about 300 students (ages 3-19). Our learning circles group includes 5 Canarian students named: Raúl, Carla, Laura, Elena and Cecilia. Our group also includes 3 new members that have joined us this school year; Valentine, a French girl that has lived in multiple places in Africa, José, an American with Spanish nationality that has lived in New Jersey his whole life and Caden, another American with Indonesian heritage from Colorado. For those who don’t know, Las Palmas is the capital of a small island called Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, Spain, which are located on the north-east coast of Africa. We can proudly say that our school feels like a big family that will always be there for us and we will always feel apart of. Our school is also well known for being very welcoming with new students from all over the world.

 

In this Learning Circles experience we felt, most of all, grateful for how incredibly lucky we are. That motivated us to help other children that unfortunately aren’t as lucky. Most of us participated earlier this year in the Model United Nations program, which is a representation of the united nations for students. We travelled to The Hague in The Netherlands and debated some of the most relevant issues that the world faces today for a whole week. After this, one of the teachers that organized M.U.N. talked to us about the Learning Circles and we instantly agreed, full of enthusiasm and eager to start!

 

Little did we know how eye-opening this would be. It is amazing that we can discuss such important and delicate subjects, such as fighting for the rights of children, with students from all over the world, it made us realize what a technological age we are living and how easy it is for most of the world now to stay connected. Honestly, it gives us hope that so many young students from such different places in the world have such great ideas and proposals to improve and change our world, something that, together, we believe we can achieve. It won’t be easy, but activities such as The Learning Circles are a great start, as we believe education is the key for a prosperous future.

 

Therefore, we would like to make sure that Articles 29 and 42 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child are respected. But, why is education so important? Well, as Nelson Mandela once said: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to save the world”. After a lot of brainstorming and debating these are some ideas we came up with: 

 

We suggest quality early childhood education and care (ECCE) to be invested in for all children of the world of ages up to 6 years old in order to provide a strong learning foundation for later years with the help of trained teachers or teacher assistant volunteers who care deeply about the cause of children education rights. This would also reduce dropout rates, and it can be achieved by other countries donating necessary school materials, by asking government programs to provide most of the payment for education related necessities, and by promoting children’s social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development through the media.

 

We also recommend all the less economically developed Countries, with the financing help of the International Monetary Fund  and/or The World Bank, to create pre-schools, daycares, and public schools in order to end with street children and instead have more children in school and achieving a decent  education.

We are aware of how the lack of transportation is one of the main reasons children don't attend school as a lot of them would have to walk miles and usually, in hazardous environments. Therefore, we think investing in transportation is key, as it's silly to invest in building a school if then no one can get there safely.

 

Finally, we would like to thank every school that participated in this, it is an honor to us to have had the opportunity to work on this, and we have been truly inspired and moved by everything you have said, even if it was said through a letter, a song, or just through a picture. As you all know, the world is suffering and so are it's people. Our people. But we can stop this, together, we can make a change.

 

 

 

 

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Evaluation: