Children | Pass it to the Left

Apr 25 2013

Activism, Children, Communication, Community, Culture, Education, Equality, language, LGBT, Local, Social Change, Youth

Beyond Pink: Queer Straight Alliance Changing Minds at King George School

It may come as a surprise that King George Secondary School, just a stone’s throw from the vibrant Davie Gay Village in Vancouver, was without a Queer Straight Alliance (QSA) only six months ago.

“I was shocked,” says Student Support Worker Deona Zammit, describing the atmosphere of homophobia when she first started at the school. She recounts how some kids yelled out “Yes it is!” while she was tacking up a series of school board sanctioned “Sexuality is Not a Choice” posters.

“There used to be a lot of name calling in every classroom,” QSA Student Leader Sienna St. Laurent says. “Someone asks a question and another turns around and say’s ‘that’s so gay’. They don’t think about how they use these words as part of their vocabulary.”

When Deona and Sienna teamed up to start the QSA in November they rectified the noticeable absence of King George on the school board’s list of QSA’s. Now every highschool within the City of Vancouver has one.

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Tagged Activism, Children, Communication, Community, Culture, Education, Equality, Language, LGBT, Local, Matea Kulić, Social Change, Youth

Jan 11 2013

Activism, Children, Colonialism, Colonization, Communication, Community, Culture, Democracy, Education, Environment, First Nations, Health, Human Rights, Knowledge, Politics, Poverty, Social Change, Sustainability, Water, Youth

Idle No More – Snowflakes, Drums and Thunder

by Sarah Spence

I’ll be honest, I have never been a very political person and I have struggled with finding my identity as a member of the First Nations. I can confidently say that both of these have been because of the barrier that separates the ‘Indian’ world from the ‘White-Man’s’ world. It’s sad to say that this barrier still exists and continues to shackle my identity in a state of limbo, as I assume it has done to many before me and will do to many after me. However, this is a reality that many Indigenous people throughout the world are faced with when going through the integration process into the non-Indigenous society. There are stereotypes and ignorance regarding these separated societies that get picked up, and the fact that individuals do not follow these stereotypical concepts about being of Indigenous descent can often make them feel fraudulent, ambivalent and confused.

When I first started hearing about Chief Theresa Spence’s hunger strike and the Idle No More movement regarding Bill C-45, I was slightly hesitant and skeptical of what my involvement should be. Then I watched a Youtube video of Chief Theresa Spence explaining the cycles of pain of the people in her community who are living in third-world conditions. One thing she mentioned in the video struck a chord with me: that children can’t even take a shower without the possibility of getting a rash because the water isn’t clean. It wasn’t until I heard those words come out of her mouth that I realized the ignorance that I had been carrying around throughout most of my life.

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Tagged Activism, Children, Colonialism, Colonization, Communication, Community, Culture, Democracy, Education, Environment, First Nations, Health, Human Rights, Knowledge, Politics, Poverty, Sarah Spence, Social Change, Sustainability, Water, Youth

Sep 06 2012

Activism, Children, Community, Equality, Family, Health, Legal, Love, Non-Profit, Politics, Poverty, Social Change, Women, Youth

Thinking about Grandparent’s Raising Grandchildren this ‘Grandparents’ Day’

by Sarah Allan

Grandparents’ Day is a day to appreciate, recognize and celebrate every grandparent everywhere in the world. Grandparents who share time, wisdom, energy and love with grandchildren and great grandchildren; who provide child care while their children work; who spend their savings making sure their grandchildren have “a better life”; who don’t see their grandchildren and miss them dearly; and those who are raising their grandchildren 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, month after month, year after year.

In Canada, more than 65,000 children are being raised by a grandparent or other relative without any parental involvement. In British Columbia, there are almost 10,000 children who are being raised by their grandparents. This is more children than are in foster care in BC. Many of these children end up being cared for by their grandparents as the result of a crisis situation involving the child’s parents, such as the involvement of the Ministry of Children and Family Development, neglect or abandonment, drug addiction, mental health issues, incarceration or death. These amazing ‘grandparents raising grandchildren’, or ‘GRG’s’, have been referred to as the province’s ‘invisible foster care system’ as without them, the taxpayer funded foster care system would be responsible for the care and well-being of all of these children.

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Tagged Activism, Children, Community, Equality, Family, Health, Legal, Love, Non-Profit, Politics, Sarah Allan, Social Change, Women, Youth

Jul 31 2012

Activism, Charity, Children, Colonialism, Community, Environment, Health, Human Rights, International, Police and Security, Politics, Social Change, Sport, Water, Youth

Shady Sponsorship and Bhopal’s Special Olympics

by Melanie Hadida

Photo Credit: Sanjay Verma

About a week ago I found myself in Cardiff, Wales searching for a place to have a tea and scam some free internet so I could do some work. The best option to meet those specifications (in the city centre of a big UK city) is always Starbucks. It was a rare beautiful and sunny day and I was desperate to get as much time outdoors as possible. When I went up to the counter to order my chai, I asked the barista why their neatly stacked patio furniture had not been placed outside yet. “We’re not allowed,” she told me, “this is the Olympic Park area and no one is allowed to set up outdoors—we could be fined £20,000.” (On account of not giving a crap about the Olympics, I had no idea that Cardiff is apparently one of the event locations.)

Turns out, that since Starbucks isn’t an official sponsor of the 2012 London Olympic games, they could not set up tables and chairs on the lovely sunny cobblestone walkway outside of the café because this would be un-sanctioned advertisement for Starbucks. And this would make Coca Cola and McDonalds angry….and you wouldn’t like them when they’re angry…

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Tagged Activism, Charity, Children, Colonialism, Community, Environment, Health, Human Rights, International, Melanie Hadida, Police and Security, Politics, Social Change, Sport, Water, Youth

Jun 25 2012

Children, Culture, Education, Equality, Feminism, Social Change, Women, Youth

How Teaching Got Its Skirt (And Why That Skirt is Knee-Length)

by Shmoo Ritchie

The feminization of teaching in 19^th century Canada was due to a variety of factors, most notably the growing demand for teachers created by increases in enrollment. Because, at the time, men had a greater range of employment opportunities open to them compared to women—in accordance with Victorian principles—they were frequently drawn away from education as a job, leaving a vacuum in the profession that needed filling. By drawing on Victorian ideals of women-as-mothers, and comparing teaching to motherhood, female teacher sympathizers argued in favour of women-as-teachers, successfully defending women’s employment outside of the house. Furthermore, since women’s work was undervalued in society and female teachers were seen as less prestigious, less competent, and less authoritative compared to male teachers, they commanded a significantly lower salary. Thus the feminization of teaching was justified along economic means as well as ideological ones.

If historically women began dominating the education sphere along pragmatic (economic and supply/demand) and ideological (teaching is mothering) lines, how have things changed in the wake of the feminist and women’s movements of the 20^th century? Now that women are purportedly equal to men, and theoretically have access to the same employment opportunities as men do, why is the teaching profession still dominated by women? The answer, we will see, is that things have changed less than we might imagine.

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Tagged Children, Culture, Education, Equality, Feminism, Shmoo Ritchie, Social Change, Women, Youth

Mar 12 2012

Activism, Charity, Children, Community, Environment, Homelessness, International, Non-Profit, Photography, Youth

Project Somos – Building a Children’s Village in Guatemala

by Deanna Alexander

Project Somos is establishing a village for abandoned and orphaned children in Guatemala near the town of Tecpán.

The Village will have seven homes with Guatemalan Foster Mothers raising a household of children.
The family homes are being built using earthbag construction.
This eco-sustainable Village will use alternative power, and will have organic agriculture & orchards.
The Village is being designed in collaboration with Guatemalan architect, Cecilia Rodriguez.
Education, leadership and arts will be key focuses of The Children’s Village.
The Village will work hand in hand with the local Guatemalan community.

Project Somos volunteers

The first two homes each of which house one den-mother and seven children

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Tagged Activism, Charity, Children, Community, Deanna Alexander, Environment, Homelessness, International, Non-Profit, Photography, Youth

Mar 08 2012

Activism, Children, Consumption, Democracy, Economy, Human Rights, International, Knowledge, Legal, Police and Security, Politics, Social Change, War, Youth

Problem Reaction Solution – Kony 2012

by Dominique Silvan

I’m not usually a viral aficionado, but this particular 30-minute video was plastered all over Facebook and I couldn’t resist. I was wondering what the content of this fast-spreading buzz piece could be, and why so many of my friends were beginning controversial discussions about it.

[Author’s Note: I knew I would probably want to write a little bit about my insights after watching Kony 2012, but I had no idea I would be SO motivated. Please bear with the length of this article: I feel that without proper explanation, there would be leaps of logic and omissions of integral facts.]

Right away my heart was torn, witnessing the horrific reality of the situation that has transpired in central Africa, and indeed everywhere else it happens. I was moved to tears, grieving for the pain and fear these abducted children soldiers and sex slaves experience. Like everyone, I wondered how this had been allowed to happen and continue. Surely at this point in our history, despots who wage multi-decade wars of terror on civilian populations would be an international priority for removal.

About halfway through, I became aware of my emotions and how strongly this film was encouraging me to “fight against war” and resent this criminal, Joseph Kony. I took note of the format in which the film was presented to me, and the people and organizations involved. I noticed that the viewer were shown the problem – a very pressing and legitimate concern for all humans who know with every cell of their body that we are peaceful and loving beings by nature. I perceived my reaction with as much mindfulness as possible, noting a strong desire to express outrage, sorrow, and anger, and demand justice. Promptly, the filmmaker offered up a solution: force the issue into critical international attention so we can all demand that world policy makers commit to military action in Africa.

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Tagged Activism, Children, Consumption, Democracy, Dominique Silvan, Economy, Human Rights, International, Knowledge, Legal, Police and Security, Politics, Social Change, War, Youth

Mar 07 2012

1 Comment

Activism, Children, Colonialism, Community, Crime, Equality, Film, Human Rights, International, Internet, Media, Occupation, Politics, War, Youth

Re-thinking the Kony 2012 Video and Invisible Children Campaign

by Jahanzeb Hussain

There are plenty of things wrong with the very naive Kony 2012 Campaign. It re-enforces all the stereotypes: rich, mostly white folks from western countries going off to help little black kids in Africa. The people who made the film might have perfectly honest intentions, but the way they did it shows their narrow understanding of the world, as well as their lack of understanding of their own role in the world and in conflicts such as these. It also portrays the US as some force of good yet, the US supports and has supported criminals who are just as bad, and American companies support militias in the Congo in order to extract a mineral called Colton, which is used in cellphones.

These militias run slave and sex camps (Congo is the worst place in the world for women) but has anyone made a video on that? If you ask the same guys who made the Kony video, they would not even believe for a second that the US supports these atrocities in Congo. The video briefly mentioned that the US only intervenes in countries where its national interests are at stake; well, Congo is one of these countries, and the US intervenes in Congo, mainly supporting some of the worst acts of criminality in the world. Afghanistan is another country – from the point of view of children’s rights and women’s rights – where the US supported the worst of warlords and Taliban factions, even though they raped young boys and made the country a living hell for women. Obviously, nobody talks about the US role over here, simple because it doesn’t fall in the framework of American benevolence. If you want to know more about how the US media reports different war crimes and genocides depending on the US political involvement in a given country, I urge you to read Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chomsky, and the Politics of Genocide by Ed Herman.

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Tagged Activism, Children, Colonialism, Community, Crime, Equality, Film, Human Rights, International, Internet, Jahanzeb Hussain, Media, Occupation, Politics, War, Youth

Feb 15 2012

Children, Crime, Culture, Feminism, Internet, Love, Music, Violence Against Women, Women, Youth

“Ok not gonna lie I’d let Chris Brown Beat the eff out of me”

by Melanie Hadida

I hate Rihanna. So much. Just ask any of my friends. If you’re ever out with me and we’re unlucky enough to have some background Rihanna music infiltrate our ears, I can guarantee you will have to sit through one of my anti-Rihanna rants.

Which is why I wasn’t surprised to wake up on Monday morning to see that more than one of my friends had brought this to my attention:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/horrible-reactions-to-chris-brown-at-the-grammys

Was I shocked? Nope. Outraged? Obviously. Sad? Extremely.

As a proud feminist with an avid disdain for mainstream pop music, Rihanna was never really on my radar until this incident took place almost exactly 3 years ago:

http://gawker.com/5149353/chris-brown-arrested-for-allegedly-beating-up-rihanna

Chris Brown, another musical “artist” who I had never even thought twice about, was arrested for beating the shit out of his then girlfriend Rihanna. I believe they were either only about 20 or 21 at the time.

I have no interest in launching into a diatribe about violence against women, why it happens and how it affects women of every color, class and nationality. As we’ve seen with the recent Canadian Shafia murder trials, (highly profiled for its extreme heinousness but probably more for peoples’ fascination with the exotic and sexy term “honour killings” attached to the crimes) control and violence against women is still extremely prevalent in societies across the globe today.

In terms of Chris Brown’s ability to maintain popularity following his admission of brutality towards his then girlfriend, I was definitely not surprised. I mean, countless men strangely considered to be “role models” for youth (politicians, athletes, musicians etc.) behave in ways considered reprehensible by many yet their popularity (and their cash flow) never wanes.

So why is this incident so different?

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Tagged Children, Crime, Culture, Feminism, Internet, Love, Melanie Hadida, Music, Violence Against Women, Women, Youth

Feb 08 2012

Children, Community, Education, Human Rights, International, Non-Profit, Youth

A New Year of Challenge and Opportunity at Shitima School

by Cluny Mackenzie-MacPherson, Acting Director at the Shitima School in Kabwe, Zambia

2012 is shaping up to be an exciting year for us here at Shitima School, as it marks the launching of several new projects. Our brand new High School, Markit Secondary, will see its first pupils, ground will be broken on a chicken coupe and a piggery, and our new onsite shop will be open for business. Plans are being put together to initiate skills training programs in tailoring, shoe making and food production in addition to our current programs in carving and basket weaving, and our school garden is producing at its highest levels yet. This project has been growing for the better part of a decade, having begun as a one-room schoolhouse, and all of us here in Kabwe remain humbled and grateful for the support of so many people who have made this all possible.

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Tagged Children, Cluny Mackenzie-MacPherson, Community, Education, Human Rights, International, Non-Profit, Youth

Pass it to the Left

Category Archives: Children

Project Somos – Building a Children’s Village in Guatemala

Re-thinking the Kony 2012 Video and Invisible Children Campaign

“Ok not gonna lie I’d let Chris Brown Beat the eff out of me”

A New Year of Challenge and Opportunity at Shitima School

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