Today, Tour for Humanity returned a middle school in Brampton for 4 additional workshops to Grades 7 and 8 students. They were very lively groups today, full of questions. Different groups had different discussions, the last class of the day stood out particularly because they were a very “chatty” yet knowledgeable group that had questions about everything. Following the Holocaust video, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) Educator Daniella always asks if there is anything that someone wants more clarification about - and immediately multiple hands went up. One student said she had heard that Hitler actually survived the war. Daniella used this time to clear up common misconceptions, emphasizing that students should always think critically about what they hear and read. This led a different student to question why Hitler would commit suicide and why he targeted the Jewish people in the first place. As the workshop transitioned to Canadian history, the class was also very interested in the story of the SS St. Louis. Some students had studied it in earlier grades and were immediately able to fill in the story. As soon as the image appeared on the screen, one boy right away said, “That’s the boat that Canada turned away.” It was evident that today’s classes had been thoroughly prepared for our workshops, which in turn made for some memorable moments.

This morning Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) Educator Elena visited a public school in Scarborough to present the Grades 5-8 students with our Women’s Rights are Human Rights workshop. Elena worked together for close to three hours with the group - who were enthusiastic throughout their time together, really impressed Elena! 

Today’s workshop included an introduction to FSWC, Simon Wiesenthal, and the concept of antisemitism. From there Elena dove into the subject of women’s rights through a combination of lesson, videos, and interactive games and activities. Elena went over a number of definitions to help kids have a basic common language to work with, including stereotype, gender, sex, feminism,  hate crime. We also looked at a couple of key issues relating to women’s rights including education and the relationship between the media, body image, pressures on both girls and boys to look a certain way. We also spent a bit of time talking about one of the most pressing women’s rights issues in Canada today, namely the fate of over 1200 missing and murdered Indigenous girls and women (at the school’s request). 

 Throughout the time we were together Elena found students very eager to share their own experiences which meant that several of our activities had amazing participation, so much so that Elena had to insist on moving on even though many students wanted to continue to share their own examples. One of the best activities from the day was when we had students break into smaller groups and all sit in circles with their group members to talk about some of their first memories relating to the idea of gender. Most of the kids had no trouble coming up with some answers and Elena was impressed with how open they were with each other. One student told her group, and later the whole class, about how she was bullied when she was younger for being a “tom boy.” She always wanted to do everything, play all the sports that her brother did and she remembered kids in her class making fun of her for dressing "like a boy" when she was in Grades 1 and 2.  One of the quieter students chimed in with a very insightful observation, saying that it can be hard to fight against these attitudes when a lot of the people who might be pushing these ideas about gender roles onto kids are their own family members. Elena talked about how it can be difficult to balance respect for traditions but also being able to make decisions for oneself and dress/act how one wants.