Yorkton students got a chance to step out of class and learn about their fundamental rights at the SIGN building on Nov. 17.
Big Brothers Big Sisters Yorkton (BBBS) organized the event, which educated grade five students about their rights enshrined by the United Nations.
“The main thing is that children recognize their rights,” said Irma Van De Bon-Nicol, Executive Director with BBBS Yorkton.
The event commemorated National Child Day 2017, which takes place across the country on Nov. 20. The day, which began in 1993, honours the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. These documents highlighted basic needs of children around the world.
BBBS Yorkton arranged nine separate stations for their event, each one focused on a different right. Students learned about their rights to education, protection from cruelty, adequate medical care, and more.
“We challenge them to...share these rights with other children,” Van De Bon-Nicol said.
Volunteers from across Yorkton led the stations. Workers from the fire department, Moose Jaw Pride, Shelwin House, and elsewhere discussed the importance of rights with the children.
The stations were interactive. Students made crafts, worked on puzzles, and brainstormed ideas about rights. The hands-on approach was meant to make the lessons more memorable.
Van De Bon-Nicol wants the children to internalize these rights and think about them as they go forward in their lives.
“We hope they treat every child with respect,” she said. “We need to build each other up and support each other.
“Every child has a right.”
