Students in grades 3-5 at Lynnwood-based Soundview School came together for a human rights rally Tuesday commemorating the 76th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The event, held in front of the school on 196th Street Southwest, served as an opportunity for students to voice their support for equality, justice and respect for all individuals, the school said. Facilitated by fifth-grade teacher Mike MacCully, the rally aimed to empower students to express their passions and show that their voices can influence the world around them.
“We wanted students to feel they can make an impact by demonstrating their interests and taking action,” MacCully said. Preparation for the rally included crafting signs, writing speeches and learning about the history and significance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These lessons tied into broader studies on how governmental systems shape people’s lives and how individuals can influence these systems in return.
According to the school, among the topics students were passionate about were LGBTQ+ rights and the principle that all humans deserve equal treatment, the school said. “Even if we don’t identify as a part of the LGBTQIA+ community, we can still work hard to make a safe place for them,” said fifth-grader Faye. “We want Soundview to be a safe place for everyone… That’s why we’re doing this rally.”
Other students highlighted the global importance of human rights. “When you go home tonight, think about how you can help immigrants, refugees and how lucky you are to have rights. Don’t take it for granted because some people don’t have these rights,” said student Arlo.
“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights says all humans should live happily with their basic needs fulfilled, but many people are fully denied these rights… from Siberia to the Sahara,” Luka added.
Looking ahead, MacCully envisions the rally growing in scale. “As this event evolves, we hope to include more people, increasing the impact and reach of the students’ message,” he said.
Soundview School is an International Baccalaureate school serving grades pre-K through eighth grade.
What happened to reading writing and math?? Is this a part of indoctrinating?? Picketing?
Why are you against children learning to be engaged citizens? And how does this personally affect you?
I would imagine that there is enough time in the week to work on reading and writing as well as give the children some feeling for civic engagement – surely a good thing!
Would you feel the same indignation if they had been demonstrating/being indoctrinated against illegal immigrants or crime?
Ii wasn’t aware that learning how to protest was an elementary school subject for 8-10 year old kids. Not surprising though given what’s happening on our college campuses.
I love that the students are learning experientially about their constitutionally protected rights and freedom to express themselves. And to show loving support for more vulnerable members of our human family. Empathy and compassion are essential pro-social skills and traits to model and encourage in our future leaders. Thank you for featuring this event in MyEdmonds News.
Agreed! Looks like they had a fun time too!
This is not learning the constitution as I doubt any children would have been there anyway. Children need to get knowledge from the basics. I would hope parents will also be the guide for children. There they will get loving care there. Teachers, through teaching history, can teach about our founding fathers. Why the constitution was in place. Empathy and compassion starts at home. My idea of compassion and pro social skills may differ from yours.
These kids were celebrating the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, not some controversial doctrine. The Declaration was drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, and it was adopted by the UN General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948. This UN Declaration is really beyond criticism, and it’s properly part of a civics curriculum for young students.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. In my opinion the UN is hardly an advocate for human rights. It is a political / socialist organization that arbitrarily identifies issues. There are many atrocities happening around the world that they aren’t addressing except for a select few. I believe it serves no real purpose and should be disbanded.
I agree with you 100%
Saddens me that an upbeat story about kids celebrating human rights can get morphed into an attack on the United Nations. It might be helpful for critics to actually read the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It can be found at https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/2021/03/udhr.pdf
It saddens me to think that people do not see actual world events to disprove what is published on website. It’s easy to publish anything. They could publish on their website ithat all the human rights issues are resolved and there is no one going hungry.
No country not even us here follows that document it may be aspirational or idealistic but it is not based in reality. Maybe teaching of our constitution and bill of rights would be more helpful
That “Peace For All” sign is certainly controversial and a sure sign that little boy is being taught socialism and anarchy. Lord, he’s probably scarred forever now. I do agree that our public schools should be more about basic education and less about stuff like this; but causing any sort of harm to society.? I very much doubt it. The real problem is we are supposed to be a nation of laws that apply to everyone and everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Once we lose that, we lose it all and we are getting damn close to that edge now. We don’t even want to punish people when they are proven guilty because we don’t trust our own court system to be fair and unbiased. What a mess.