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5,000 Citizens Petition Governor for Human Rights Education in Florida Schools
by Antonella Antonecchia
Wednesday, Apr. 06, 2011 at 8:55 AM
April 4, 2011, Tallahassee, Florida – Youth of all ages collected more than 5,000 petition signatures asking that human rights education be included in the curriculum of Florida schools. This week representatives from Youth for Human Rights Florida and United for Human Rights, working in coordination with Florida State Representative Dwight M. Bullard (D- Miami-Dade), presented the petitions to the Governor’s Office at the Florida State Capitol.
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Representative Bullard, both a teacher and human rights advocate said, “If we would recognize the totality of human rights and all it encompasses, we could pursue issues more comprehensively rather than patchwork.”
Twenty-year old President of Youth for Human Rights Florida Dustin McGahee gave a youth perspective on school to Congressmen and Senators today as he said, “For every student catastrophe we see in the news, there are thousands more students who feel unsafe because their rights are violated – rights such as The Right To Privacy, The Right Not To Be Tortured or The Right Not To Be Discriminated Against. Some people call these violations ‘bullying’ while others just say ‘that is part of growing up,’ but regardless of how it is labeled, thousands of students go to school in fear, because their human rights are violated in some way, big or small, every day.”
McGahee continued, “I have seen students being taken off in handcuffs to juvenile jail. I have seen students being taken off in ambulances to the hospital. And the next day nothing changes. It is time we make a change.”
Youth for Human Rights Florida is a chapter of Youth for Human Rights International. This is a secular non-profit organization with the purpose to educate people on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights so they become valuable advocates for tolerance and peace.
United for Human Rights (UHR) is a not for profit organization that assists and unites individuals, educators, organizations and governmental bodies to implement the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
As partner organizations Youth for Human Rights and United for Human Rights utilize educational materials based on a youth-designed DVD of the 30 Human Rights, “The Story of Human Rights” DVD, and the award-winning music video “UNITED” to combat bullying and foster respect for human rights.
For more information go to: http://www.youthforhumanrights.org
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