We are a chapter of Free the Children at Bridgewater State University. We are a group of college students working to build a school in Sierra Leone and promoting children’s rights on the BSU campus and in our local community. Think Globally, Act Locally! Join us!
Michel Chikwanine is a former child soldier. Michel was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo where he grew during the Great War of Africa. He witnessed the torture of his father, who was singled out for his political beliefs, and endured other many other difficult stuggles. Much of Michel’s childhood was ravaged by the death and decay of a war that claimed the lives of 5.8 million people, his father included. Through these experiences and the legacy of his father, Michel has learned the importance of positive thinking and the potential each and every one of us has to create positive change. He tells his story in order to craete awarness about child rights and to empower others to stand up for what is right.
Michel was in the New England area speaking at University of New Haven. Tony Esposito, VP of Student Affairs at BSU, organized a trip with some FTC members to go to the event. We were also able to see Bria Wilbur who accompanied Michel. Bria is cofounder and former Vice President of our chapter, and is now working for Free the Children as an Outreach Speaker. We were able to listen to Michels powerful speech again and talk about our own chapter’s accomplishments. The event was organized by Dan Kent, a former member of our chapter who is now attending grad school at the University of New Haven working in Student Activities. An organization he works with of students bringing awareness about these issues to their own college community - S.M.I.L.E.S- hosted the event. This was beautiful night of community and inspiration.
For information on how to bring Michel and other powerful speakers to your school, church, or organization contact Me to We Speakers.
This blog was written by Iolando Spinola. Tell us you were here! Leave your name and where your from with your support, comment, question, etc!
Almost each day we are faced with choices which globally connects us to equality or exploitation through one simple fact - we are consumers. As consumers, what we buy is connected to a series of previous actions most likely taking place in countries outside of our own. Unfortunately yesterday's shadow of our purchases many times include sweatshops, child labor, hazardous working conditions, underpaid workers, and exploited producers. Supporting truly ethical companies is one way to choose and encourage justice and equality around the world.
The Just Trade Fair, April 14th, was an incredible event put on by the Social Justice League. It included vendors that are Fair Trade and socially responsible. Fair Trade Certified means that the product is fairly traded from producer to consumer. This means that the producers were paid a fair wage for their products, that the workers are making a living wage, and that there is no exploitation in the process of trade (no sweatshops or child labor)
We would like to give a huge thanks to Diane, owner of Rockin' K Cafe at Bogarts! Diane made delicious organic brownies and raised donations for BSU Free the Children's School building project in Sierra Leone! We love the Rockin K' and its good heart! The Rockin' K offers organic and Fair Trade coffee and teas as well as delicious food, check it out it is right inside Bogarts in Bridgewater! Also a huge thanks to Mona of Beachrose Glass and Pottery who was also at the Just Trade Fair and donated a portion of her profit to BSU Free the Children! We greatly appreciate it!
Children learning at a Free the Children School in Sierra Leone
Our Chapter of Free the Children is excited and blessed to have so much support from students, faculty, student groups, and even some local businesses! We appreciate each and every person who has donated to our school building project, helped out or attended events, or even just taken the time to learn more about child rights and our school building project by reading this blog. You are each an integral part of this movement to raise awareness around these issues and to build school for children in Sierra Leone. Continue to be the change needed in this world each day!
"If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children." - Mohandas Ghandi
Want to learn more about Fair Trade and ethical products? Check out the links below.
This blog was written by Katie Wilber, FTC President. Tell us you were here! Leave your name and where your from with your support, comment, question, etc!
Did you know that 6 out of 10 American teens witness bullying at least once a day?
What is bullying?
"A person is bullied when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons, and he or she has difficulty defending himself or herself." - Dan Olweus
Who is bullied the most?
Latino kids -------------------------------------------2%
Asian kids --------------------------------------------3%
White kids -------------------------------------------3%
Black kids --------------------------------------------4%
Disabled kids ----------------------------------------6%
Heavy kids ------------------------------------------11%
Kids who dress differently-------------------------12%
Kids who are gay or are perceived as gay-------24%
(Source: 2002 National Mental Health Association survey of 760 12-17 year olds)
Statistics about bullying:
Nearly 1 in 3 students is involved in bullying.
While school violence as a whole is declining, bullying behaviors have increased by 5%.
Kids who are obese, gay, or have disabilities are up to 63% more likely to be bullied than other children.
Boys are more likely than girls to bully others.
Nearly one-fourth of students from elementary through high school have reported that they have been harassed or bullied on school property because of their race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or disability.- 2001-2002 California Student Survey
Nearly one-fourth of students from elementary through high school have reported that they have been harassed or bullied on school property because of their race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or disability.- 2001-2002 California Student Survey
Students hear anti-gay epithets 25 times a day, and teachers fail to respond to these comments 97% of the time. -Gay Lesbian Straight Educator’s Network.
Harassment and bullying have been linked to 75 percent of school-shooting incidents. -US Secret Service Report, May 2002
Gay and lesbian youth are two to three times more likely to commit suicide than other youths, and 30 percent of all completed youth suicides are related to the issue of sexual identity. -Report to the Secretary's Task Force on Youth Suicide
84.6% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 40.1% reported being physically harassed and 18.8% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation.
Results of bullying:
·Kids are more likely to skip school, both if they are bullied and if they bully others.
·Bullied children are more likely to get sick.
·Bullied teens are more likely to drink and become aggressive
·People who bullied others when they were children are more likely to get into trouble with the law as adults.
·People who were bullied as children are more likely to have psychological problems as adults.
·People who were bullied as kids are more likely to be bullied in the workplace as an adult.
Suicide is the third leading cause of youth aged 15-25. Each year there are about 500,000 attempted suicides and 5000 of those result in death.
What We Can Do!
Learn more! One of the best way to fight stereotypes and discrimination is to get educated and learn more! Meet new people and check out events and opportunities going on on campus that you can engage in learning about different cultures, religions, and LGBT issues.
Harrassment is present on college campus' too. A new study from the non-profit Campus Pride shows that 23% of LGBT students, faculty and staff from colleges and universities have reported anti-gay harassment. Show respect and support for all students and stand up and say something when you hear discrimatory comments or slurs.
Children model our own actions, talk to your kids, cousins, siblings, etc. about bullying and respect. Many times discrimination is learned at home.
More Resources!
Learn about Jared's Story , a story about a young boy who committed suicide due to bullying.
Get involved in MARCMassachsetts Aggression Reduction Center which teaches children about bullying and respect.
Tonight is AWARE's 10th annual DRAGFEST All the money is being donated to Free the Children's project to build a school in Sierra Leone.
· The UN named Sierra Leone one of the worst countries to live in.
· An 11 year civil war resulted in 2 million displaced people.
· Thousands of kids were orphaned, killed, or maimed, during the war.
· An estimated 10,000 children were used as child soldiers.
· Less than half of Sierra Leonean women aged 15 to 24 can read and write.
· Most schools were destroyed during the war, and by 1996 nearly 70% of children were not receiving an education.
· Today, Sierra Leone has the world’s highest mortality rate of children under age five.
Consider donating to help us build a school in Sierre Leone and give the children of Sierra Leone the hope for a better future!
This blog was written for Child Rights Awareness Week at BSU by Katie Wilber, FTC President.
Check back tomorrow to learn about another child rights issue and how you can help!
Tell us you were here! Leave your name and where your from with your support, comment, question, etc!
There are over 300,000 child soldiers around the world; boys and girls under the age of 18 who are involved in armed conflict.
Facts about children in armed conflict
(information taken from Human Rights Watch)
Some children as young as eight years old are taken to be child soldiers.
Children are vulnerable to be taken as child soldiers because of their emotional and physical immaturity they can be easily manipulated.
Both girls and boys are used as child soldiers. In some countries, like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Uganda, a third or more of the child soldiers were reported to be girls. In some conflicts, girls may be raped, or given to military commanders as "wives."
Children are most likely to become child soldiers if they are poor, separated from their families, displaced from their homes, living in a combat zone or have limited access to education.
Once recruited, child soldiers may serve as porters or cooks, guards, messengers or spies. Many are pressed into combat, where they may be forced to the front lines or sent into minefields ahead of older troops. Some children have been used for suicide missions.
The ILO Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labor prohibits the forced or compulsory recruitment of children under the age of 18 for use in armed conflict. It has been ratified by over 150 countries.
Children are sometimes forced to commit atrocities against their own family or neighbors. Such practices help ensure that the child is "stigmatized" and unable to return to his or her home community.
What is a Child Soldier?
A child associated with an armed force or armed group refers to any person below 18 years of age who is, or who has been, recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, cooks, porters, spies or for sexual purposes. It does not only refer to a child who is taking, or has taken, a direct part in hostilities.(Source: Paris Principles and guidelines on children associated with armed forces or armed groups, UNICEF, February 2007.)
Why do children become involved in armed conflict?
War / Civil War
Poverty
Lack of Education
Displacement
Abducted from home
Rebel/Guerilla recruitment
Government/ Paramilitary recruitment
Volunteer under false promises of economic or political freedom
Children who are child soldiers may...
become engaged in armed conflict
have physical harm or even death
endure severe sexual and physical abuse
forced use of drugs
have severe lifelong emotional and psychological damage
endure severe sexual and physical abuse
forced use of drugs
have severe lifelong emotional and psychological damage
forced to attack and harm own community and family
be outcast from communities upon returning home
involved in trafficking arms and drugs
no access to education
Stories of Child Soldiers
Colombia
"They give you a gun and you have to kill the best friend you have. They do it to see if they can trust you. If you don't kill him, your friend will be ordered to kill you. I had to do it because otherwise I would have been killed. That's why I got out. I couldn't stand it any longer." (17-year-old boy, joined paramilitary group aged 7, when a street child.)
Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories "I was detained on 18 March 2003... We are in a very small room with 11 people... We are allowed to use the bathroom only three times a day at specific times. Once a week we are allowed to take a 30-minute recess. The prison guards force us into shabeh position: they tie our hands up and one leg and then we have to face the wall." (15-year-old boy arrested by Israeli forces, reporting on detention conditions in an Israeli settlement outside Ramallah, April 2003.)
What Can We Do?
There are so many ways you can get involved to stand up against the use of child soldiers!
The first way you can get involved is educating yourself about the issue of children in armed conflict. Check out these links below to learn more!
Educate others! Share the things you learn with your family, friends, your classes and your community!
Put a face to the issue of child soldiers. Bring a speaker to your student group, church,school or organization. BSU Free the Children brought Michel Chikwanine, a former child soldier from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Bridgewater State University. His story was able to reach people in a meaningful and powerful way.
Check out our blog on Red Hand Day to learn about how our chapter is involved in standing against child soldiers!
This blog was written for Child Rights Awareness Week at BSU by Katie Wilber, FTC President.
Check back tomorrow to learn about another child rights issue and how you can help!
Tell us you were here! Leave your name and where your from with your support, comment, question, etc!
Hunger is a major issue which affects countless individuals all over the world. The most recent estimates put the number of chronically hungry people at 925 million, many of whom are innocent, helpless children.
Hunger in the World
1 out of 4 children in developing countries are [underweight.]
10.9 million children under five die in developing countries each year.
Lack of Vitamin A kills 1 million infants a year
In 2008, nearly 9 million children died before they reached their fifth birthday. One third of these deaths are due directly or indirectly to hunger and malnutrition.
Hunger in America
1 out of 4 American children are at risk of hunger
Food insecurity exists in 14.7 % of all American households.
20% or more of the child population is living in food insecure households [in 16 states + Washington D.C.]
Consequences
Children struggling with hunger may also face ...
Slower growth and inhibited brain development.
More illnesses, including stomachaches, headaches, colds, ear infections, and fatigue.
Greater susceptibility to obesity and its harmful health consequences.
Lower concentration and [alertness in school.]
Lower academic achievement.
Increased likelihood of developing psychosocial and behavioral issues
Creative Ways to Stand up Against Hunger!
Walk for Hunger! On May 1st the Community Service Center at BSU is walking for hunger with Project Bread. Sign up to walk and raise money against hunger!
FreeRice.Com is a fun interactive site that lets you practice your vocabulary. For every answer you get right they donate 10 grains of rice to the World Food Programme.
Click to End Hunger! The Hunger Site is a site where you can click a button and through the sponsors the site will donate 1.1 cups of food to those in need. You can also find gifts, clothes, jewlery, and more on the hunger site and a percentage is donated to help end hunger.
Come up with your own ideas! There are many resources that can help you develop creative projects, campaigns, and events to help end hunger. Watch how an idea like Trick-or-Treating for canned goods can make a difference - Halloween for Hunger!
This blog was written for Child Rights Awareness Week at BSU by Sullivan Cohen and Melissa Hughes, future FTC President and Secretary.
Check back tomorrow to learn about another child rights issue and how you can help!
Tell us you were here! Leave your name and where your from with your support, comment, question, etc!
"There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they can grow up in peace." -- Kofi Annan
Facts About Child Labor
215 million illegal child laborers
115 million children in the worst forms of child labor
Estimated 300,000 child soldiers in the world
8.4 million children are in slavery, trafficking, debt bondage and other forms of forced labor, forced recruitment for armed conflict, prostitution, pornography and other illicit activities
Child domestic work in the houses of others is thought to be the single largest employer of girls worldwide
What Is Child Labor?
Legal child labor is when a child under the age of fifteen works for their family or a family friend. The work they do must also not keep them out of school, or be dangerous physically, psychologically, etc.Legal child labor is not the issue we are concerned with.
Illegal child labor is any labor by children under 15 that places children in conditions that are hazardous and harmful to their health, education, personal and social development, and even their lives. Included in illegal child labor is "the worst forms of child labor."
At age twelve Craig Kielbuger, founder of Free the Children, traveled to India to see child labor first hand. Check out the video above to see a clip from his experiences.
The worst forms of child labor is when children are used for dangerous labor, sexual labor, or when children are treated as slave laborers, including:
Child soldiers
Prostitution
Sexual exploitation of children
Sugar Cain workers
Sweatshop laborers
Bonded Labor
Forced Labor
Any work having to do with war
How does this happen? The answer is most likely poverty. The families and communities of these child laborers are almost always in extreme poverty. This poverty leads both parents and children to make difficult life or death choices. Sometimes parents must sell their children into debt bondage in order to have enough money to eat. When recruiters come to a poor village or town promising good work for children, the parents often know it might not be true, but believe that any life will be better for them then the life can provide. Some of these children are orphans, due to poverty related deaths, with no one to provide for them they have no choice but to join the force of mistreated child laborers. Children in areas with heavy war and child soldiers see so much killing and violence around them many of them will volunteer as a way for protection. And in some cases children are out stolen and forced into child labor.
Why Children?
easier to boss around and manipulate
more can be packed into smaller places
smaller hands for things such as sewing, weaving, operating machinery, picking cocoa
higher energy
high supply
cheaper to feed and house
What Is the Answer?
Although there are many ways to stand against child labor such as not buying products that are made in sweatshops, or chocolate that was made by companies who may employ children, the best way that children will come out of child labor is through education. Education allows children to break the cycle of poverty in their families and communities. Support universal education and laws against the use of child labor.
What Can You Do?
Spread awareness and spread the word!Tell your friends about child labor and the problems surrounding child labor for millions of children around the world.
Consume wisely! Many people do not realize that the products we buy like Nike shoes are connected to things such as child labor in sweatshops or children picking cocoa for our Hershey's bars. Support businesses that are Fair Trade Certified or can prove that they are sweat-free and ethical.
Learn more! Below are great resources to learn more about child labor and ethical consuming.
Michel Chikwanine is a former child soldier. Michel was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo where he grew during the Great War of Africa. He witnessed the torture of his father, who was singled out for his political beliefs, and endured other many other difficult stuggles. Much of Michel’s childhood was ravaged by the death and decay of a war that claimed the lives of 5.8 million people, his father included. Through these experiences and the legacy of his father, Michel has learned the importance of positive thinking and the potential each and every one of us has to create positive change. He tells his story in order to craete awarness about child rights and to empower others to stand up for what is right.
