Moving to Action at UTS

Mar 3, 2015 by Tiffany Leung

The following is a list of policies at our school, or suggested policies, for each of the rights we listed in our last post.

Rights

1. Freedom of speech/expression

At UTS, we ensure that each member of the student body has the right to contribute to the improvement of the school as a whole. Any student from any grade can propose a new club or organization to the elected student council for approval. Additionally, any student or staff member is allowed to sit in on the student council meetings, to ensure transparency. This year, a course feedback form has been created so that the student body can also voice their opinions on how and what they are learning. A lot of the freedom of speech/expression is exercised at UTS by providing everyone with an equal voice.

2. Right to basic physical needs: food, water, shelter

Since it is likely that all of the UTS student body has access to food, water, and shelter, our policies were more focused on having time to exercise these rights, mainly to food and water, during school. Many students, especially senior students, have meetings or sports practices during lunch, and some may often skip their meals because not all teachers let students eat in class. Although the law of allowing students to have at least 40 minutes of lunch is obeyed at our school, we recommend that teachers let students eat during class (unless it is a safety hazard, e.g. during a chemistry lab) to ensure that busier students can eat lunch. If class disruption is an issue, it may be a better idea to allow students to eat during the first fifteen minutes of class, instead of the whole class.

3. Right to education

Everyone at UTS definitely has the right to education, but whether or not they exercise this right is another issue. There is more of a responsibility to exercise this right, as teachers cannot force students to go to class. What the school can do is provide adequate working environments and resources for students, which we have at UTS.

4. Freedom of religion

While UTS students are free to follow whatever religion they choose, and they are free to wear religious clothing, there should be more awareness or more flexibility on the part of teachers around religious holidays. There are times when assessments may fall on a holiday particular to one or a few religions or ethnicities, which may interfere with traditional celebrations, while it would not interfere with more common holidays. At times, it may not be possible to avoid the holidays altogether, but we recommend that teachers are more flexible with accommodating due dates for students who celebrate less common holidays.

5. Right to safety/security

The right to safety and security is the hardest to ensure as a lot of bullying happens outside of the authoritative eye. Although physical bullying does not often occur at UTS, cyber and verbal bullying more common than it seems. One way that the school board has tried to reduce bullying is by educating students on what exactly bullying is. Some bullies may actually know that they are bullying their peers, and this educations may help them reflect on themselves. The most important method of preventing bullying is to encourage all students to exercise their global responsibilities (listed below) in order to create an environment of support for their peers, and defence against discrimination. Training students to be global responsible citizens from their youth will create a more globally responsible generation.

Responsibilities

1. 1. One cannot do anything to deny rights to another (one's rights end when they start impeding on another's)
2. 2. One must defend those who are discriminated against/unfairly treated
3. 3. One cannot decide basic needs/wants of others
4. 4. One must respect others' choices
5. 5. One must take responsibility for their actions

Post comment