Human rights is an issue that spans cultures, communities and countries. In this lesson, students will learn what human rights are, what violations of these rights look like, and how the fight to grant these rights to all people has been expressed over the years. Students will complete a series of activities in order to further their understanding of these global issues, and will finish their lesson by contacting Amnesty International and writing and sending letters supporting the victims in a current case of human rights violations.
Created by Estela Soberón, October 2006
NOTE: Material has been translated into English but not edited
Subjects: History, Literature.
Time: Six weeks
Materials: Notebooks, drawing tools, books related with the topic, computers with Internet access.
| Objectives: NOTE: Meets Mexico Education Standards |
Abilities:
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Since the sixteenth century, some renaissance philosophers, like Picco Della Mirandola, began to discuss the importance of man’s dignity, and the defense of the natural rights of the self. Centuries later, the Declaration of Independence defended the equality, the liberty, and the pursuit of the happiness as imprescriptibly, and inalienable rights of all men. In 1789, French citizens who lead the French Revolution drew up the Declaration of men, and the citizens’ rights in which they emphasized the importance of the individual guarantees of all human being: liberty, life, security, property.
In reality, from the modern era, and above all from the eighteen century human beings have struggled to defend their right to equality, their freedom to worship and ideas, the abolition of slavery, and to have a job and a decent place to live. Many of these struggles have taken place without full consciousness that these are inherent rights to the human being condition, and therefore they should never be infringed. However, unfortunately, the lack of information and ignorance permits every day abuses and violations to be committed to human rights. Violations sometimes lead to violent acts where intolerance, discrimination, torture, or even worst, death are in practice.
Because of all this, it is important to promote and to educate others about the Universal Declaration of Human rights. This declaration establishes that all human beings have the same rights; also it is a document which at the time of its publication was signed and endorsed by governors from all over the world. The Declaration also is an instrument of protection for all people and it is the only mechanism that has judicial faculties with executive power.
During 1979 members of the Human Rights Commission gave themselves the assignment to create special articles relating to Children’s Rights; they thought that children required protection and care during infancy.
It is important to point out that each right implies a responsibility, and the rights of a person can not violate or pass above the rights of another person.
| Beginning |
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| Development |
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answer the following questions: Do you think that the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights is important? Give three reasons to justify your answer. look in the newspaper for any news that illustrates situations where Human Rights have been preserved or violated. read the 1849 letter from A. Sterne to Charles S. Taylor, that mentions a joint Resolution demanding the President of the U.S. remove the Indians out of the Territory. Discuss how removing Native Americans to reservations violated their rights, and which Human Rights were violated by forcing them from areas settled by Anglos. look at Mexico’s decree abolishing slavery, published September 15, 1829. They will discuss what the reasons may have been that led to Mexico abolishing the institution of slavery nearly forty years before it was abolished in the United States, at the time of the Civil War. read the book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, and they will learn to make origami cranes like the ones the book’s protagonist made. Research the atomic bombs that were dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII and their effects. read the book Zlata’s Diary and they will watch the video about the life of this girl who survived to the war horrors in Bosnia. pretend to be reporters, and they will create an interview of ten questions that they would ask Zlata. choose, in groups, any of the articles of the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights. They will design and do a poster to illustrate the chosen article. make a list of values that they consider necessary to avoid the violation of the Human Rights. They will explain why for each value. write biographies about leaders whose actions have been to defend or to violate Human Rights. Using this information they will write a presentation that they will later illustrate in the computer lab. analyze why a responsibility falls into each right. listen to the songs “Imagine” and “I Wish I Could Know How it Feels to Be Free.” They will chose any of the two songs and analyze their content. They will write a paragraph to explain why this song is related to the topic. make a debate to defend or to condemn the death penalty.
Finally the students will contact Amnesty International, to help them find real cases of people whose rights have been violated. The students will write and will send letters supporting these cases.
The teacher and the student will chose an activity along the topic that they consider more significant to evaluate the topic.
Bibliography:
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, Coerr, Eleanor
Daniel’s Story
Zlata’s Diary: a Child's Life in Sarajevo, Filipović, Zlata
I Have Lived a Thousand Years
Journey to Jo’burg, Naidoo, Beverley
Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor, Freedman, Russel
Leading Lives: Adolf Hitler
Leading Lives: Benito Mussolini
Leading Lives: Mikhail Gorbachev
Leading Lives: Mohandas Gandhi
Leading Lives: Nelson Mandela
Leading Lives: Yasser Arafat
