Voice of the Children

The International Children Peace Prize was created in 2005 by the Dutch Organization called KidsRights. The award is given to young adults who had affected children worldwide through their actions. They strongly believe that children should not be ignored but instead be heard. "I continue to believe that if children are given the necessary tools to succeed, they will succeed beyond their wildest dreams!" -David Vitter, U.S. senator. The International Children Peace Prize is awarded to those who had succeeded in improving the lives of children around the world. The young adults used their tools, their notable traits, to succeed. However, none of it would happen without others listening to what they have to say. The winner of 2011 of the International Children Peace Prize is Michaela Mycroft. Mycroft was born with Cerebral Palsy which limits the function of her arms and legs. She fights for the rights of the disabled in South Africa. Her campaign is called the Chaeli campaign which helps over 3000 children in South Africa with disabilities. The campaign was founded by her at age 9 and she has continued to make an effort at improving the lives of the disabled children in South Africa. Other nominees for the 2011 International Children Peace Prize are Liza, Malala, Nikolay and Winfred. Liza fights for the rights of the girls in Palestine and use sports to raise donations. Malala focuses on the right to education for girls in Pakistan, she used international and national media to promote awareness. Nikolay use blogs and online discussions to spread the knowledge of children’s rights. Winfred documents and records the abuse cases of children around her environment and founded a counseling club. The International Children Peace Prize winners and nominees believe that the voice of the children is worth fighting for.

Michaela Mycroft believes that the voice of the children is worth fighting for and their disabilities should not go unnoticed. She was born with Cerebral Palsy, which helped her understanding how tough the lives of the disabled children are. She fought to make sure that the disabled children are accepted into the community and they are not unheard. As said by one of her supporters, "She is giving a voice to children who can't speak up." The reason she won the award was because she had changed the lives of the children in South Africa. Mycroft gave the children medical supplies and physical therapy. The children's rights are denied, however Mycroft did everything she could in her campaign to defend their rights. She is an inspiration to other children around the globe. Felix Finkbeiner was inspired by Wangari Maathai, Noble Peace Prize Laureate, and created a campaign called Plant for the Planet. The campaign was successful and was taken note in an article by the Telegraph. Plant for the Planet had planted 12,000,000,000 trees and are increasing. He has been inspired and strove to plant as many trees as possible to ensure there will be a future for the future generations. Finkbeiner's speech to the UN in 2011 was persuasive and showed that he has knowledge about the environment and how to sustain it. His voice was heard and many people took action in his plans. The slogan of the Plant for the Planet : Stop Talking, Start Planting shows that Finkbeiner urges people to start taking action before it's too late as he said in his speech to the UN. His message was mainly directed at the children, he believes that the children are the ones who will change the planet and therefore should take action now. Michaela Mycroft and Felix Finkbeiner believes that the children's voices should be heard. Finkbeiner takes a step further and urges the children take action in preserving the planet.

Francia Simon won the International Children Peace Prize in 2010. She promoted education in Dominican Republic by helping other children to get birth certificates. Besides the children in Dominican Republic, she also started helping the refugees from Haiti with education. The children will now have a brighter future and she will be remembered for the girl who spoke up for their education. "So that they can achieve their goals of becoming engineers , architects and etc." She said, supporting the children and providing them a chance to have a job. Before Francia Simon, Baruani Ndume received the award in 2009. He has reunited many families Tanzania using his radio programme. The programme became highly successful and is broad casted in Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda. Baruani Ndume addresses problems for children and their families in his radio programme which allows the children to speak for themselves. Ndume was a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo and lost his parents along the way. However, he used his resources and helped numerous children to find their family with his programme. Besides his radio programme, Ndume also has a blog. He mentions on his blog that many children lacks the confidence to speak their thoughts ; Ndume helps them by a campaign called Child Voice Out which gives the children an opportunity to be heard. In that particular post, he also mentions other numerous problems about the children in Tanzania. Education and poverty is the main problem for the refugees in Tanzania. Ndume's parliamentary sessions for children also helps him to address problems for the refugees. Francia Simon and Baruani Ndume are International Peace Prize winners. They believe that the children should be able to speak out and receive education for a better life.

Besides Baruani Ndume, other winners of the International Children's Peace Prize have tried to give children a voice and education. In 2007, Thandiwe Charma received the award for defending children's rights, especially education. She supports the rights of children in Zambia and has received an award for helping the children's education. She believes that education would help children's life and allow them to be able to 'speak' through their writing. Education is key to her in helping the children. During her speech to the government, she included how the children should be seen and heard. Om Prakash Gujar was another award winner who believed that the children's voice is worth fighting for. He believes that education is key to voice. Gujar was a child labourer at age 5 and he is determined to not let other children suffer the same fate as him. It was that motivation and kept him determined and resilient. In order to avoid child labour, education is the best prevention. The prize money given to him was used to create 2 campaigns that helps education and deals with child labour. Gujar won the award in 2006, before Charma and many other winners. The first International Children Peace Prize winner is Nkosi Johnson. He won the award in 2005. 2005 was the year which the International Children Peace Prize was established. Johnson helped children who has AIDs to receive education so they have a chance at having a better life. His speech at the International Aids Conference in Durban provided an insight at how the children should have a voice and be treated equally as they are also human beings. Johnson also met with Nelson Mandela to discuss issues for children.From 2005 to now, all of these winners of the International Children Peace Prize have all done something to help to let the children's voices be heard and helped.

The traits I noticed in all of these award winners are intelligence, courageous, selfless, empathetic, dedicated,resilient, reliable and inspirational. The winners have won the award by showing all of the heroic traits and helped children with their education and voice. They are persistent, they work towards their goal even after receiving the International Children Peace Prize. After winning the award, Om Prakash has achieved in putting child slavery high on the list in India. He also received numerous donation to help his cause of ending child slavery and providing education for children. Another example is Thandiwar Charma, she broadcasted her message to the world and a new Education Act has been passed in her country due to her. They all work to try to let the voice of the children to be heard, whenever it's education, disability, etc. Their message is that we can all make a difference, even as a child and we can help children who are disadvantaged to let their voices be heard. Voice of the Children is worth fighting for. They encourage me to start taking action by donating to charity for the cause of children. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, "Children are entitled to the freedom to express opinions and to have a say affecting their social, economic, religious, cultural and political life."

Breaking Problems into Smaller Parts

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"The most essential factor is persistence- the determination never to allow your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by the discouragement that must inevitably come." -James Whitcomb Riley. William Wissemann is diagnosed with dyslexia and dropped out of school at fourth grade. However, he did not give up on himself due to his learning disability. Instead he went to a "language processing disorder" school which he eventually overcame his disadvantages. He is fighting against his disorder to achieve his goals. It is remarkable that he had the determination to achieve a goal that may be impossible at first. Linking to the quote above, Wissemann has the characteristic of persistence. He has the determination to never allow himself to lose hope in his learning by his disability. Another example is Muhammed Ali, the well-known boxer that suffers from the Parkinson's disease. The Parkinson's disease targets the nervous system which progresses as the patient gets older. This disorder has caused Ali to retire from the boxing world. However, this did not lower his confidence and determination. He fights the disorder and lives his life to the fullest.



What is worth fighting for? There are many things worth fighting for, but to Wissemann and Ali ,goals are worth fighting for. However, most people give up on their goals due to the lack of persistence that leads them to think that their goal is impossible. Our goals are worth fighting for and worth trying for. William Wissemann fights for his goals even though he had an disadvantage to learning. He kept trying and eventually he could do some skills that normal people could never achieve. Wissemann had achieved many goals due to his persistence, including the 3x3x3, 4x4x4 and the 5x5x5 Rubik's Cube. Muhammed Ali's goal is to live his life to the fullest and won't let the disease overcome his determination. His original goal was to be the unbeatable boxing champion of the world, however this changed when he was diagnosed with the Parkinson's disease.



William Wissemann had some setbacks and obstacles before he reached his goal of solving the Rubik's Cube. He almost gave in to defeat at his first attempt of the Rubik's Cube, another attempt ended with Wissemann smashing the Cube to pieces and reconstructing it again. Wissemann believes that when we are facing a problem, it helps to take a step back and break the problem into smaller pieces. Most notables have the characteristic of persistence. Aung San Suu Kyi did not simply give up when she was put under house arrest by the Myanmar military government. Instead she started a campaign that went world-wide. Reporters visited her and soon she was widely known. She won the Nobel Peace Prize for her determination in a free country. She has worked towards her goal and the obstacles like being under house arrest has not dampened her will. "Nothing is too small and it is the drops of ocean that makes up the ocean." -Aung San Suu Kyi. This motivates her to be determined and persistent. She believes that if we all make a difference, then our goals could be reached and achieved. In a way, Aung San Suu Kyi is similar to William Wissemann because they attempt to reach their goal no matter what happens to them.



Muhammed Ali was diagnosed with the Parkinson's Disease when he retired from boxing. (1984) However, some people are diagnosed with disabilities at an early age. William Wissemann was facing difficulties in learning due to his dyslexia, but Jhamak Kumari Ghimire's disability of being unable to speak or use her hands (cerebral palsy) had made even more obstacles to her goal. In Nepal, many disable children like Ghimire are being denied to education. Ghimire learned from her sister and drew her first letter in the dirt. At first, her parents disapprove her drawing in the dirt, convinced that it will bring bad luck. As Ghimire progressed in her learning, her parents are now proud of her and was glad they did not listen to their neighbor who suggested that her parents should thrown her in the river. Her latest book, Is Life a Thorn or a Flower, has won her a literary prize. She has reached her goal over many obstacles and attempted a feat that normal people would never be able to do if they had been diagnosed with the disability. Muhammed Ali suffered the disability later in his life, he does not have to overcome the same obstacles that Jhamak Kumari Ghimire did. The thing that they both have in common is to reach their goal and to live life to the fullest.



The common characteristic trait that William Wissemann, Muhammed Ali, Aung San Suu Kyi and Jhamad Kumari Ghimire all have is persistence and determination. They work towards their goal and obstacles slows them down but won't make them give up. Their disadvantage didn't stop them from trying to reach their goal. Wissemann, Ali and Ghimire had disabilities which affected their way of life, but they are still able to work towards their goal despite the odds. For these people, their life has been hard but the result benefits the entire world. Their actions shows that everyone can make a difference and achieve their goal, no matter how hard it might seem. I believe that goals are worth fighting for, not matter what disadvantage you have, there is always a way to achieve your goal.

Consuming Our Future

Source: www.mediaed.org

Consuming Kids talks about the commercialization of childhood and the effects media has on us. One of the effects that media has on us is the increase of consumption. Marketers target children from birth and influence them to have "brand loyalty". Brand loyalty is the trust in a certain brand, the companies ensure that you will use their products for life. Psychologist study children's mind to stimulate a product for companies that will capture the child's interest. The overwhelming wave of media is causing hypertension, diabetes, obesity and other health problems in children. The Story of Stuff talks about the effects of the consumption on the world and how we can save the earth by reducing our needs for objects that may only last for 6 months. By reducing our consumption, the companies would reduce their factories and products which will lead to a more positive environmental future. Consuming Kids and The Story of Stuff is linked to each other. If we reduce our media consumption, we would decrease our need of consuming and save the environment.

Our health and environment are worth fighting for. In order to do that, one must first reduce the need to buy and consume. Media has shaped society into a consuming community. We are consuming products without thinking about the environment and how we might hurt it. The time we spend consuming media and the products media wants us to buy has increased over the past years and our health is in danger. Studies have shown due to the over exposure of the media, children are spending more time in front of the television or computer than playing outside or creative play. Spending more time watching television is decreasing exercising which is causing diabetes and obesity. Consuming the products media tells us to, like MacDonalds and other fast food restaurants, are affecting our health. Our environment and health are worthy to fight for, thus take action now.

Besides diabetes and obesity, media is also causing ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and depression. Babies from 6 months of age can recognize brands and this makes them a target for marketers. Parents are mis-led into believing baby DVDs, such as Baby Mozart, can help their child learn and be ahead of others in school. However, the baby's brain is not properly structured and by putting them in front of a television instead making them crawl around and increase their brain cells. The result of baby DVDs are ADHD and depression. Children are used to images changing all the time like in the baby DVDs and can't adapt to a single image and not changing for a period of time. This makes teaching these children difficult. The happiness/content of people for what they have have decreased significantly over the years and is caused by the want of objects. Seeing commercials on the television urges you to buy the product. The depression is causing more people to consume products which leads to a less eco-friendly planet.

Media is shaping society. Teenagers are influenced and believes in the stereotype messages sent by the media. Children are also believing 'you are what you have' which is promoting consumption of object. Other effects of media is the 'age compression'. Age compression is 'getting older, younger'. Children are being more mature, but at a sooner age. Media can reach us in a variety of ways. Teens are more plugged in to the Internet to any other age groups which makes us a perfect target for marketers. Media reaches us by Internet, phones, television and etc. Media can also reach us at school, companies give schools discounts on their products so the students are ensured to have 'brand loyalty' for this product. It is important to understand media messages, they are shaping society in a negative way.

Media is causing health issues and damaging the environment. It is decreasing social interaction and outdoor activities. People would rather 'chat' , rather than talk to each other. Media is shaping our values and we should start understanding the messages to decide if it's right or wrong. In simple words, media is affecting our behaviours, health and future. It is shaping society and urges us to consume more products. Consume less equals less products being made which equals less environmental damage. Consuming Kids and The Story of Stuff is insprational because we know the effects media has on us and why we should decrease our consumption. Fight, for our health and environment. Fight, for our future.

Join Us with Conviction

If you haven't noticed society is chopping down the rain forest.
These days, not enough people point out the tragedy that is occurring.
And we have nothing to say.
Our generation needs to end this.
Be convictive and declare it.
Be determined and believe strongly about it.
Join us.

This image supports my message of conservation the rainforest. Despite the cut down logs stacked together, there is still a chance of hope in the middle and this shows that we should start conserving the rainforest before it's too late.

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Clemson clay nest by Nils-Udo (2005)

"The Lorax" Fighting for Environment

Source:http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7784.The_Lorax

"Now all that was left 'neath the bad smelling sky was my big empty factory.. the Lorax....and I."

"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot (about the environment/conservation), nothing is going to get better. It's not. "

The Lorax is a children's picture book written by Dr.Suess. It emphasizes on the importance of conservation and environment. The Lorax is about an figurative environmentalist that speaks for the trees, birds, fishes and the bears. The Once-ler corrupted with greed ignored the warnings of the Lorax and eventually destroyed the environment. The story encourages us to consider message of conservation. The Once-ler had the last hope, a seed. However, if we chopped down every tree and nothing is left, not even a seed, then we are doomed. This shows conservation is very important and we should start now to increase sustainability of our future. Conservation and environment is worth fighting for.

Environment is a key to our future, therefore worth fighting for. Looking at dystopian societies in class, I realized that one of the main characteristic of dystopian societies are the lack of environment. In The Knife of Never Letting Go, Todd's (The main protagonist) society seems to avoid the swamp, leading to Todd's inferring of men don't go to swamps. Other dystopian societies also lack environment. Woolvs in the Sitee, mentions how the protagonist (Ben) "longs for the bloo skys...nothing is rite." Something must have happened in Ben's and Todd's society that lead to the environment disappearance. We can prevent dystopias turning into reality by being more global aware.

Besides Dr. Suess' Lorax, there are some other authors who use picture books to send out the message of why conservation is worth fighting for. The Waterhole by Graeme Base is about some animals drinking at a waterhole. As you flip the pages, the waterhole gets smaller and smaller. On the last page, when the waterhole is completely empty and dry, there are 10 extinct animals on it. Another book by Graeme Base called Uno's Garden is similar to The Lorax. The protagonist, Uno, discovers a paradise and invites everyone to live with him. As the buildings increased, the wildlife and environment decreases. The last book, called Where the Forest Meets the Sea by Jeannie Baker, gives the reader a sense of dystopia. The protagonist walks through an inhabited island and visualize how it might look in the future, overridden by tourists.

Looking carefully at the Lorax, I found out that the Once-ler may be a representative word for chancellor. I connected this with Germany during World War II. The Once-ler was driven mad with greed like Adolf Hitler (The Chancellor of Germany during WWII) was driven mad with power and racist views, as well as over patriotism. Once-ler ignored the warnings of the Lorax and left the Lorax powerless to do anything. Hitler oppressed and sent up standers to concentration camps which are basically death camps. Another comparison of the Once-ler and Hitler is the fact that they both use advertisement/propaganda. Once-ler had slogans while Hitler had propaganda.

Conservation is vital for sustainability. Without conservation, there is no sustainability and no environment. The world would face a dramatic change that may lead to a dystopian future. In order to prevent it from happening, we have to start being eco-friendly. The Lorax and other stories are trying to give us the message of conservation, however, some children might not understand the message given. When we look back, we found that there are lots of picture books with moral meanings. One moral meaning in the Lorax besides conservation, is not to be overwhelmed with greed. Once-ler was a perfect example for that. The Lorax is inspirational because authors are trying to fight for the environment through books and we should listen to their message and start conserving.

Creating A New World of Freedom

METAMORPHOSIS by Vladimir Kush

-Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell is an American economist, social theorist, political philosopher and author. He claims that if a disaster was to befall upon the world, freedom will be eroded and create dictatorship. A Dystopian society will be created if freedom does not appear, freedom is key to create a new world, or a utopia. Examples of Dystopian societies has appeared throughout history and most lacked freedom. Freedom is an characteristic that cannot be missing from a Utopian world.

No freedom means no Utopian society, if I were given the chance to create a "New World", I would certainly include freedom as one of the most important characteristics. There must be human rights , laws and norms to maintain freedom in the society. As Thomas Sowell wrote, we must be alert and not let any extremists take control. Maintaining the freedom is as important of achieving it. Everyone in the society should be able to have freedom and rights. The freedom of speech, thought and independence.

Looking at Dystopian societies, I realized that many of them lacked freedom. Back in Germany1923, hyperinflation began. Adolf Hitler and his racist regime began to win more votes from the citizens. Hyperinflation was a turning point for Hitler, the citizens gave him more power because they saw him as a political savior that could save them from the hyperinflation. Freedom was disregarded as Hitler took over Germany and began oppressing the Jews. Propaganda also helped to influence the citizens, in one poster, Hitler was shown as a knight in shining armor to rescue all.

I also connected with the Knife of Never Letting Go ;I chose this picture because it looks like a hot air balloon sailing towards an unknown place beyond the mountains. Viola was "crashing" towards a new unknown world. The clouds behind the hot air balloon looks like the flames when her spaceship was crashing. In Todd's Dystopian society, freedom was ignored, they aren't allowed to leave Prentisstown, Knowledge was also taken away. Books was burnt and destroyed, school banned and banned teaching. The Mayor doesn't want anyone to have freedom and uses his authority to become a tyrant, a corn farmer was in jail because he refused to give Mayor free corn.

A Dystopian book called Nineteen Eighty-Four written by George Orwell in 1949 talks about a future Adolf Hitler society. Propaganda is everywhere and even the freedom of thought is restricted. Thoughtcrime is a crime very similar to The Knife Of Never Letting Go 's Noise where everyone can hear each other's thoughts. If you think the wrong thing, you get arrested by the government. Newspeak is a reduced English language, this is similar to Todd's society where they ban the books to make Todd uneducated. The civilians in 1984 are uneducated to prevent rebellion thoughts and keep them from the truth. Memory Hole is kind of a deletion of a event, photograph or documents to pretend the event or the information never existed or happened.

While building a new society, we must build it around the idea of freedom. Freedom leads to democracy, the freedom of vote and voice. Freedom also leads to education, the freedom of knowledge and intelligence. Freedom leads to peace, there is no war and argument if everything is fair. The UN millennium development goals will be achieved if freedom is gained. There will be no poverty, gender inequality, poor maternal and child health, poor global partnership and environmental issues because freedom leads to education and education leads to a job which prevents poverty. They are also educated enough to be unbiased and Eco- friendly. Global education will also be achieved because freedom promotes education. Freedom is the characteristic that can not be missing from any society on earth.

This I Believe:Freedom

I believe in freedom. Freedom is a right that is denied in many countries. Without freedom, every other right is stripped from you and dehumanized. No freedom equals no identity. There are many acts of discrimination, racism and violence throughout the world, in the past and present. Dictators use their power and control to block people from speaking out to threaten their power. But I believe that if there is bad there is always a good in the world.



One of the largest act of freedom taken away is at WWII. Adolf Hitler, a racist leader that targeted Jews, took away freedom and all of what later came to be included in the Human Declaration of Human Rights from the Jews. He built concentration camps which was like a living hell as some described. Genocides could be caused by the dictator’s fear of having power taken away. It is that fear and the hatred that ultimately lead to the genocide. Freedom is regarded as a less important thing at that time. Hitler’s propaganda persuaded some Germans to believe that Jews were less than human and should not allowed to even have rights. In one particular poster, it described Jews as “flea-like”. The poster supports one stage of genocide, dehumanization. The Jews in the concentration camps lost their freedom, as well as their identity. Everything is taken away from them, except for their number which threatens to take over their identity.



Freedom loss is a terrible thing to happen to you. Aung San Suu Kyi had her freedom taken away from her when she stood up against the Myanmar military government. In doing so, she was put under house arrest for many years. She was trapped in her home and her only connection with the outside world was the radio. Suu Kyi has stood up against the government for the rights of her people. There are many cases like Aung San Suu Kyi around the world and unfortunately most are oppressed and lost freedom.

The word freedom comes from Indo-European word “Prijos” which is to love. In Greek mythology, there are also stories of freedom or without freedom. The clearest myth of freedom mythology is probably The fall of Icarus. It shows how to escape captivity and to achieve freedom. Unfortunately, Daedalus's voice of warning to Icarus was unheard and lead to Icarus’s downfall. The story that has the least freedom in it is Theseus and the Minotaur. The 12 tributes that are the Minotaur’s food supply had no choice at all. Their freedom is taken away as they are locked inside the labyrinth. The Minotaur had never experienced freedom, it has lived it’s life in captivity and darkness.

Problems with freedom even goes back to Middle ages, William the conqueror had subjugated England by taking freedom of thought and speech away from everyone. If there was a rebellion, he would crush it and execute every dissident. He had used fear to take away to freedom like Hitler in WWII. William had wanted to be a benign leader like King Cnut, but the rebellions had forced him to be oppressive. Even William couldn’t stop the rebellion after his death, John Ball had questioned how a serf should live and persuaded them to rebel against the king at the time.

I learned this believe when I read about the terrible things happened in the past and present. It shaped me to believe in freedom and rights. Back in 6th grade, I was in Global Issues and I learned about the unequal society in some countries. From Greek mythology to Middle ages to WWII and to Aung San Suu Kyi. We struggle to keep freedom and peace in the world. However, there are some up standers that inspire us to stand up for freedom and peace. No one in this world should ever have to endure loss of freedom. Instead we should be connected like all the people dancing in Matt Harding’s videos. We need to believe and act on the fact that Mankind Is Not An Island.

This, I believe.