Tour for Humanity spent today at a secondary school in Fenelon Falls, part of the Kawartha Lakes region approximately 2 hours north of Toronto. Fenelon Falls has been involved with FSWC for a number of years and the organizing teacher has been bringing students to Freedom Day for the past few years. Today marked the first Tour for Humanity visit. Throughout the day we had 2 high school groups who saw the Global Perspectives workshop and 3 groups from a nearby elementary school (Grades 7 and 8) who participated in the Canadian Experience program.

The Grades 11 and 12 students were currently taking World Issues classes, so it was clear that the students had an interest in the topic. The classes were also very willing to answer questions and participated eagerly in the workshop. One of the Grade 7/8 classes stood out because of the questions they asked. Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) Educator Daniella began by asking what the class knew about the Holocaust, and she was very surprised when no one answered and even the teacher shook her head to imply that she hadn’t taught the students anything about the Holocaust. After watching the Holocaust video, Daniella asked the class if there was any part they wanted more clarification about. That was when the questions started. One student began with a question that we hear quite frequently: Why did Hitler want to kill the Jewish people? Daniella explained about antisemitism, the scapegoat mentality and propaganda. Following that, the class also wanted to know why Hitler committed suicide (another common question) and why other countries didn't try to stop Hitler. They also wanted to know what would have happened to German people who defied Hitler and his policies.

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FSWC Educator Elena was also on the road today, bringing the Women's Rights program to Brampton for a full day of workshops with 4 large groups of students. It was a special visit in that today is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, a day we recognize in honour of the 14 women who were murdered at the Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal engineering school in Montreal on this date in 1989. The workshops also had added significance due to the central focus that sexual harassment and assault have taken on in the media in recent months and we had a lot of great comments and questions. She began each workshop by talking about the events that led to Marc Lepine murdering 14 female engineering students and the impact that gender stereotypes and pressures had on people of both genders on that day. Not only were young women murdered merely for pursuing a degree in a field often seen as more appropriate for men. Male students who were ordered from the room by Lepine were later criticized harshly in the media for their supposed lack of heroism/inability to prevent the massacre, a conversation coloured by the expectation that men should automatically be ready to protect and fight. 

This subject was a good way to draw on the interest of many students and set the tone for the importance of discussions around women's rights issues. Elena was initially concerned that the large number of students in each group (each workshop was approximately 100-150 students), making it more difficult to have meaningful discussion but in the end there was a lot of participation with contributions from students of all genders and backgrounds. Students shared perspectives ground in the different ethnic communities they represented, such as one young woman who raised the issue of infanticide under China's one child policy. Another student from the same group talked about the negative perception of daughters in India, where some families have to pay crippling dowry prices to the families of their daughters' husbands. Another topic raised by many students was the existence of a double standard for how teenagers are supposed to act. One student explained that her own parents were not the problem but extended family were always telling her parents that they shouldn't allow her out past 11 and should watch who she hangs out with, etc., yet didn't have any of those same concerns for boys in the family.   

Elena had 75 minutes with each group which gave her a little more time to talk about particular issues including the notion of the "glass ceiling" and the concept of structural inequality and equity. Another women's rights issue that Elena addressed was the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada, a topic that not all students had a lot of familiarity with. Elena talked about the REDress campaign and the fact that there is an ongoing investigation into the full extent of the crisis. One of the more uplifting comments of the day came from one male student in Grade 11. Elena asked each group whether they would be scared to have a daughter or not. A lot of the students admitted that yes, it seems like it's tougher in some ways and that they would be afraid of the bad stuff their daughters might experience. One student respectfully disagreed, explaining that he would be excited to have a daughter because his mom is a very strong lady and the centre of his family and he would like to raise his daughter to be like that! The teachers and Elena started a round of applause for that student and everyone joined in. Overall it was a very powerful day and Elena was very impressed with how open and honest the kids were with her and each other.