Students stand up against discrimination

By Farida Master

He was shell-shocked as bullets whizzed past him and killed people. A 12-year-old was screaming saying ‘my dad is dying’. There was lot of blood everywhere, said Toffazal Alam, reliving the nightmare of one of the mosque terror attacks in Christchurch.

ate and Talking to students at Howick College on the occasion of the Big Stand (stand against bullying), an annual event which was this year called EducEmbrace – back-to-back assemblies through the day had an underlining theme of discrimination and hate speech and how our actions will create the world we want to live in.

It was a moving experience listening to students bravely stand up and talk about prejudice and discrimination they had personally faced.

It included a young Sikh boy saying he has been called a terrorist at intermediate school and asked to go back to his own country. Equally moving was listening to three other students speak about their sexual orientation and looking for acceptance from their family and friends.

From racial slurs to personal attacks due to the colour of the skin or sexual orientation, they urged students not to be homophobic or racist.

Interestingly, in a survey done at school they found that most people have faced some sort of discrimination which is why the Educate and Embrace assembly organised by teacher Donna Agnew with student groups  was a poignant reminder to raise a voice and stand up for those who are being discriminated.

“We will be creating pledge walls for students to make a personal pledge about what they can do, and to show their support for an environment where everybody is welcome,” says Donna.

“The second part of our campaign involving different races, religions, cultures, sexualities, identities, genders, socioeconomic background etc., is to create a series of videos celebrating and educating about the diversity of our community to erase stigma and stereotypes surrounding them.”