AMNESTY VOICE YOUR CONCERN:TY students are speaking out on human rights with help from such famous artists as Christy Moore and Conor McPherson
CHILD SLAVERY, censorship and political oppression deny a voice to their victims. The new Voice Your Concern resource, launched today by Amnesty International with the support of Irish Aid and the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals, critically engages young people with human rights education. Since 2004, this project has linked thousands of TY students with celebrated poets, musicians, photographers, dramatists, filmmakers and visual artists including Christy Moore, Seamus Heaney and Neil Jordan. Together, they create a piece of art exploring human rights and injustice.
Playwright and filmmaker Conor McPherson collaborated with the TY students of Newpark school in south Dublin. “The project took up months of our time and most of our thoughts,” he says. “I worked with the TY students and their drama teacher, interviewing the students individually. Then, by listening to these recordings, I picked the performers for the show, four students and four teachers.”
Over in Castleknock Community College, Christy Moore spent two days working with the students to write, produce, and record a song. Ciaran Brennan, an 18-year-old student at the school, was in TY two years ago. “When Christy Moore first came to the school, he asked us what we’d like to include in our song,” he says. “There are a lot of international students in our school, so we wanted to express how non-Irish people feel living in Ireland. Everybody had an input into the song, and we found that it was a great way to tease out the issues of human rights.
“We eventually recorded the song and also had a chance to perform it in the Helix as part of an Amnesty-organised event.”
Laura Cahill, now an 18-year-old student in sixth year, also took part in the songwriting session with Christy Moore. “His visit to our school was the culmination of classes on human rights,” she explains. “Previously, we had made a film about the Kurdistan region of north Iraq, telling the story of a girl who came to Ireland, made friends with the students in her school, and then faced deportation.” The students received instruction from a human rights barrister and a playwright, preparing for the film by playing games and acting out various scenarios. “We explored the right to education, the right to free speech and a fair trial, and how everybody is equal under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
THE NEW Amnesty resource has been written in collaboration with internationally renowned artists, experienced teachers, and the Irish Museum of Modern Art. The resource pack contains seven modules which aim to educate students on human rights issues through art, including exercises that explore human rights. The handbook is designed to enable teachers explore each of the art forms with or without an artist.
The Castleknock students believe that a human rights education has transformed their school. In co-operation with their teachers, the TY class conducted a survey to assess how comfortable international and other minority groups, such as gay and lesbian students, are in the school. They now hope that this survey can be used as a template for other schools. “We want to make the school a democratic place where everyone’s views count,” says Ciaran. “When you put yourself in someone else’s shoes, you see how hard it can be.”
For more information or to order your pack, e-mail Sorcha Tunney, Amnesty Human Rights Education officer: stunney@amnesty.ie
