A few facts for tomorrow's Social Studies test on Human Rights..... translated here, but written in french on the fact sheet for the Grade 6 class. ....
10% of the world population lives with some form of physical or cognitive disability.
250 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 years work. Of that total, 120 million children work for a living.
Around the planet, there are 160 million children suffering from extreme malnourishment.
More than 1.3 billion people are paid less than a dollar a day.
Females represent 70% of the population living in extreme poverty.
More than 35,000 die each day from reasons associated with poverty.
Females living in poverty are in more danger to die under the age of 5 than boys.
There are 50,000 children living on the streets in Australia.
The most common form of violence is directed at females, predominantly in a domestic situation.
So, all you have to do is translate them and you'll be ready to see if you're as smart as a 6th grader in their first year in a french immersion class.
ps....great discussions on these facts btw. As I struggled to translate the french sheet into english in order to blog it, my son walked away with Naomi Klein's No Logo cracked open, barking out more stats with an incredulous tone in his voice. Time to learn about sweatshops and how they're linked to the products people covet. He's hooked! New awareness can be quite a motivating shocker can't it?! His qualities of innocence combined with new knowledge of what is SO VERY WRONG in this world holds the power to make changes.....
This is what I was trying to convey yesterday.... we need to revisit our own empathic and compassionate innocence and join the ranks of 6th graders who really want to make the world a better more equal place to live..... Our children hold the spark driven desire..... and we hold the critical thinking means.
Oh, and the picture above? His beautiful face visits my thoughts every single day as I wonder if he's having a loving one or not. Normally they are not, and he deserves better than that from us all.
2 comments:
Your boychild sounds like my girl, little social activists... Bella is studying french to work with community aid abroad... but told me she no longer wants to be a doctor as people die... thinking shed moved to nursing I asked what she had decided on being... she answered... a waitress...lol
I find Bella and her friends are very social minded and usually can put me in my place with a few facts
Females represent 70% of the population living in extreme poverty.
The most common form of violence is directed at females, predominantly in a domestic situation.
it seems nothing changes (sigh)
Abbey....Both of mine are becoming more and more in tune with world issues. They have been involved with a great group in town who are socially active....even their camping weekends are themed that way. What I like about their activities right now is how self directed they are....making their own way through the awareness of social issues. Both have opportunities for international travel to attend camps and such on leadership and cultural awareness etc. My boychild will be attending one in Costa Rica next winter and will hookup with delegates from 11 other countries for a month.
It does seem like nothing changes....awareness must increase before changes can happen.
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