Combating Bullying International Day In Support of Victims of Torture
Chad Andro | 17.07.2010 15:22 | Social Struggles
This generation of youth has varied ways to mentally torture someone they might consider an enemy. Eight out of 10 children in India have been through negative online experiences that include cyber-bullying or online harassment, and only 50 percent of the parents know what their children go through, according to a recent survey in India.
Although many states in the US have anti-bullying laws, the bullying trend has not slowed down. One middle school boy was set on fire by kids at school. A girl was savagely beaten into a medically induced comma. Another one hanged herself after being continually harassed. And while death is the extreme result, acts of bullying happen daily. Today, an estimated 90 percent of fourth through eighth-graders report being victims of bullying, according to the US Bureau of Justice. And although not as violent as the older youth, the lower grades reported being in twice as many fights as those in the higher grades, according to a Gallup Poll.
“The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights was written as a solution to World War II, where intolerance and discrimination led to millions dying,” explains nineteen-year old Youth for Human Rights Florida President, Dustin McGahee. “Making laws doesn’t stop an elementary school student from terrorizing his school mate. As young children and young adults, we need to learn and understand the value of human rights, which means our own human rights and others human rights. We need to create a learning environment of tolerance more than we need Geometry.”
Youth for Human Rights Florida is a secular non-profit organization with the mission to educate about the Human Rights both in and out of the classroom. The uniqueness of the program lies in the educational materials created in collaboration with the Human Rights Department of the Church of Scientology International. Its founder L. Ron Hubbard in fact stated: “Human rights must be made a fact, not an idealistic dream”. Their educational materials include youth-designed video of the 30 Human Rights according to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, along with a documentary, “The Story of Human Rights”, booklets and an educator’s guide.
For more information go to: www.youthforhumanrights.org
Chad Andro