Human Rights Education


This is an excerpt of an interview with Latoya Massey, 9th Grade Social Studies that Felisa Tibbitts, Executive Director of Human Rights Education Associates, conducted on June 20, 2005. Latoya reflects on what it means to be teaching in a human rights school and some of the challenges she and her student’s face.

Felisa: Last fall, I asked you how well you understood the “human rights framework.” I’d like to return to this question. How well would you say that you understand the “human rights framework” at this time?

Latoya: I definitely have a deeper sense of what it means – realistically. Actually trying to carry it out and get a group of students to know what it means….It’s often difficult to draw on these for people who don’t feel they deserve these rights…Some of the children actually think it’s okay to live with underdeveloped resources, it’s okay to come from a line of family members whose people are welfare recipients, it’s okay when I hear gunfire around the corner. ‘Hey, I have a roof over my head!’ …They live in an inner city environment and don’t often think outside the box.

Felisa: How did you learn more about the human rights framework yourself this past year?

Latoya: Advisory group. Sitting down with teachers and discussing what we wanted to address. Also, I had my advisory class be self-directed by kids. I listened to what kids wanted to do.

I also took a museum art class. I did an ‘art through human rights’ aspect.

Also, the Human Rights Study Tour in January for two weeks with Global Youth Connect. I traveled to Guatemala, visiting many settings, including a group home, a police station and a lab doing forensic work.

Felisa: Over the past year, how have you integrated the human rights framework into your classroom teaching?

Getting children to understand that they have human rights. Advisory was organized around human rights. We had five issues related to human rights, and the students decide what they wanted to do. There was a letter-writing campaign, a survey to the community, female genital mutilation, police brutality. [missing one] We had lots of discussions.

I gave them options for Black History Month. They could design a stamp, perform a play, perform in a skit. This gave them a sense of ownership and helped them to discover what they were good at.

The idea I wanted them to get is that we all have to go to the table and get this done. We have to have small groups work. This means they have to figure out how to help kids feel empowered so everyone can participate!

For Yom Hashoah, we spent a whole week on human rights. They created posters, watched films, looked at literature books. Lots of discussion. One question the students asked was why we were working on the Holocaust. ‘This is Black History Month.’

I had a lot of side conversations with students. ‘This is not how we go about doing things. You need to bring your homework, you need to come prepared.’ To make sure they understand the value of their education.

Felisa: How do you think being part of a human rights school has made a difference to students?

Latoya: I think that anything that you learn yourself goes to the students….I can definitely say that I was changed…I have always been an activist and a feminist. Once I became empowered to do this, it made a difference to students….One day we discussed “Supersize Me.” The kids realized that the meal only costs one dollar in a poor neighborhood. This made them wonder about why. ‘Yes, you are being targeted.’ This opened their eyes. Maybe they won’t end up eating at McDonald’s!

The human rights framework did help with the teacher-student relationships. Sometimes I even felt that there was too much talking and discussion! At some point, there is just a consequence to your action – a simple penalty for your action. If we had a problem with a student this year, they talked to the social worker, the guidance counselor, the principal, the parents. We talked.

Student-student relationships. This was the worst of all. It may be because of the age. For the most part, students did not respect each other. There was a lot of name calling – about size, shape, using the ‘n’ word. Disrespect to females. Part of the explanation is the environment they come from – what they see, where they live, what they know….Treating others with respect, this will take time.

Felisa’s Comments:
Latoya mentioned that there were sexual harassment issues, and this is part of what she targeted. She organized a sex ed class after school, partly in response to this. They discussed topics such as preventing pregnancy, what happens when you get pregnant. The sex ed club met in the second term. Latoya got $1300 to get equipment and had about 20 students for two hours per week. They did diary entries.

Over the past year, what would you say has helped the School for Human Rights to work towards becoming a community of human rights learners and activists?

The overall goal of the school – outside of it being a human rights school – is just being there to educate, and educate till it hurts. When you’re not worried about being compensated monetarily, you visit the kid’s home, you work until 9 p.m. We worked outside the box to help make this happen. I think everything that we do, we want to include everyone and not exclude anyone…Putting yourself last and kids first.