Santa Monica � Blue shirts with the Youth for Human Rights International logo were visible all around the Santa Monica Pier and it�s beaches as human rights advocates collected hundreds of signatures to help implement the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in honor of International Youth Day.
On Dec 10, 1948 the United Nations announced the document � The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in an effort to prevent those atrocities that brought about World War II. Even though this document has thirty basic human rights that everyone in the entire world should have, it is easy to see that the spirit of the UDHR has not gone into effect largely due to a lack of education and awareness of these rights.
�War, gang violence, unemployment, not to mention the failing of the educational system are ripping the fabric of our society apart,� said Steve Jacobson, one of the YHRI volunteers and a middle-school teacher for over twenty years. �Education is a worldwide problem where over a billion people are illiterate yet Article 26 entitles everyone to have an education. We have a responsibility to our youth to bring the desired changes necessary. If we do not take responsibility, then we will not have human rights. Education is the solvent to understanding so the teaching of this precious document is vital.�
�All we have to do is turn on the news or pick up a newspaper and we see that our schools are failing our youth not just around the world but right here in the United States. The New York Daily News stated just last week �Today�s typical college freshman is a product of the watered-down, �self-esteem-building� curriculum that emerged in the late 1960s and held sway over U.S. scholastic policy by the mid-�90s.� According to the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress, over 20% of those students that do come out of our schools are functional illiterates,� said Jacobson. �Humanitarian, L. Ron Hubbard said, �When children become unimportant to a society, that society has forfeited its future.� We can see this happening today not just here but everywhere, so it is important that every human being insist that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is made a reality.�
Santa Monica attracts not just the locals but also thousands of tourists daily, so it was no surprise that so many were eager to sign the petitions to help handle the chaos around the world. As one signer said, �I am so happy that this petition is being done. It is a great start and we all need to be doing something so we can continue to enjoy our freedoms and help others as well.�
For more information how you can get involved please visit www.youthforhumanrights.org.
