YA Literature and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by Emily Sauls Pendergrass

Emily Sauls Pendergrass is back as a guest contributor. Today, she has a timely reminder that as a collection of human beings we have tried to establish standards of behavior. We have proclaimed that we all deserve to be tried with dignity. That all of us have basic Human Rights. How are we doing? Do we do enough to watch out for one another? Do we follow leaders who work to establish laws and practices that ensure the human rights of all of us?

​This was a wonderful reminder. It had been awhile since I have paused and contemplate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. How are we doing? How are you doing? Thanks Emily.

YA Literature and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by
​Emily Sauls Pendergrass

Books can help us remember our community, show us civil obligation, and lead us to advocacy. In December, people around the globe formally celebrate Human Rights and the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) from the United Nations.  The UDHR is a revolutionary statement that “proclaims the inalienable rights which everyone is entitled to as a human being - regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” Standing up for human rights is a call for all of us to engage in, explore deeply, and enact change. How do we do this with the context of YA lit and reading with students?

One of my favorite ways to explore human rights with students is through the use of Deborah Ellis’s novels, specifically The Breadwinner. This novel is about a young girl, Parvana, and her family’s struggles during Taliban rule in Afghanistan. Parvana learns to navigate her world where schools are closed, unaccompanied girls are not permitted outside their homes, fresh water is from a pump away from the apartment, her father’s imprisonment, and so much more. As part of year-long study into what life is like in our community, state, country, and world, we dove into the novel and began to unpack life in Afghanistan regarding gender, language, religion, access violations. Our essential question for this unit was “What does it mean for something to be a right?” 

Through connecting with what they are familiar with and exploring new issues, we sought to understand what Human Rights Violations are and what we can do about them. While reading, students track the human rights violations of 1 or more characters. They start to work on defining the complex issues at hand and record any questions that arise. As they near the end of the book, they choose 1-2 violations they want to learn more about. As they deeply explore their choices, they read to find out what life is like now in post-Taliban rule Afghanistan, they search for other places/countries that have similar experiences, they compare and contrast those experiences, trying to synthesize across the concern. 

The final step is to think about what action steps they as teenagers can take to begin to improve the world around them. Sometimes students write/produce Public Service Announcements about human rights violations in our local community or volunteer to serve in a refugee committee. Once my 6th grade students even wrote a book using The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown as a mentor text. The students wrote The Important Thing About War is that it Strives to End in Peace. The poem at the beginning of the book was all about the atrocities of war and midway through the book the poem changed to sharing ideas for peace. What steps will you take with students to celebrate Human Rights, notice wrongs, and advocate for change this December and in the future? 

Until next week.