Centre for Justice hosted a quiz competition on Tuesday March 18th, 2014 at Clearwater Middle School on topics such as the Bermuda Constitution, human rights in general and different areas of the law relating to the youth in Bermuda. The competition came at the end of a pilot programme introduced by Centre for Justice at Clearwater Middle School to educate students about their rights and responsibilities under the law.

Last year, Managing Director Venous Memari said, “Our youth, whose civil liberties must be promoted and protected, deserve the opportunity to learn basic laws and understand their rights and responsibilities. “The book ‘Know the Law: It’s Your Right’ was produced by Centre for Justice to educate and support our youth and fill the knowledge gap that sometimes keeps this vital information out of reach.

“This book not only provides an overview of the legal landscape in Bermuda, it aims to encourage the students to consider the consequences of their actions, the choices and alternatives available to them and the impact of those choices on themselves and others,” continued Ms Memari.

“Making the law accessible to young people increases their level of responsibility and enables them to take positive action and make well-informed decisions. It also minimises negative influences and potential victimisation often carried out by people who take advantage of the vulnerability of the uninformed.”

Isaiah Camara [Head Boy] and Busayo Salawu [Head Girl] spoke at the event. They told the PTA what the M3 students had learned during their human rights studies and how they prepared for the quiz competition.

Leah Scott, Junior Minister for Education and Walton Brown, Shadow Minister for Education sat as judges and presented prizes to the participants at the end of the quiz.

In a joint statement, afterwards, Ms Scott and Mr Brown said, “We were both honoured to have been invited by Centre for Justice to judge the contest at Clearwater Middle School.

“There was an impressive set of students who demonstrated their knowledge of important issues around human rights and they were able to articulate this clearly.

“In addition, to Centre for Justice we want to thank Principal Ms Robinson and Social Studies teacher, Ms Erin O’Bryan, for introducing this important component of knowledge to the students’ experience.”

The students who participated in the quiz were: Jay-Quan Dill, Rayven Walker, Chaella Bradshaw-Douglas, Isaiah Camara, Mikayla Douglas, Jaci Smith, Taj Donville-Outerbridge, Busayo Salawu and Malik Shabazz.

There were three teams of three students. The winners were: Isaiah Camara, Mikayla Douglas and Jaci Smith. Each student received a copy of the book ‘I am Malala’ by Malala Yoursafzai and the winning team each received a gift card from Browne & Co.

Understanding the rights we have as young people

By Busayo Salawu and Isaiah Camara Clearwater Middle School

During our first term, the Centre for Justice provided Ms O’Bryan’s M3 Social Studies class with the opportunity to study and discuss human rights. Ms Zakyia Johnson-Lord, or Coach J-L, presented a weeklong seminar to develop our understanding of this important topic. During this time, we discussed the definition of human rights and the basic rights to which all people are entitled. One lesson asked us to prioritise a variety of rights, encouraging each student to defend the right he or she thought was the most important. After several heated debates, it became clear that it was impossible to rank one right over another. All of the rights presented needed to be equally protected for all people.

Ms O’Bryan’s class also learned about Bermuda’s anti-discrimination legislation. While studying the legislation, we learned that Bermuda’s people could not be discriminated against based on identifiers such as race, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, age, religion, or gender.

After our week of study about human rights, Coach J-L returned during the second term to teach us about the rights we have as young people in Bermuda. We used the book created by the Center for Justice to learn about our rights. The book, ‘Know the Law: It’s Your Right’, provided lots of information we didn’t know previously. It also explained ideas clearly in language we could understand. The information was straightforward, so most of the time we knew exactly what our rights were. Additionally, the question-and-answer format made it easy for students to use.

Through answering questions created by Coach J-L, we were able to prepare for the quiz and build our understanding of what protections are offered to us by the law. We know that this information will help us in the future to be more informed citizens of Bermuda. We are grateful that the Center for Justice helped us build our awareness of how to be responsible individuals as well as how to protect ourselves and our peers.