Social Responsibiliy at Humberview S.S.

At Humberview Secondary School we strive to have our entire school community involved in giving back; being Socially Responsible members of society.  We want the students to feel the joys of giving back and by doing so can create a more rounded educational experience and one that can be echoed in their lives outside of school.  Read below on our current project... 

This website is to help you learn about a way of thinking and acting called Me To We.  This year’s Me To We Team Leaders are: Cory Coletta, Katie Biddie, Danielle Milik, Simarjeet Brar and Erika Barrett.

- embraces the idea that we can all build a better life-and our ideal world-through reaching out to others

- focusing less on "Me" and more on "We" - our communities, our nation and our world

- is about living our lives as socially conscious and responsible people, engaging in daily acts kindness, and building meaningful relationships with others.

- empowers us to respond to the challenges facing our world in new ways, and enables us to leave a legacy we can be proud of.

Me To We Involves:

- developing our capacity for connection by cultivating gratitude and empathy, and redefining happiness.

- teaching us to look beyond ourselves to create a new, inclusive vision of community

- embracing civic roles as a means to create a better world both for ourselves and others

- considering the benefits for "We" when making decisions

YOU ARE THE GENERATION WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR!

How it all Started:

Free the Children was founded in 1995 by a 12 year old boy named Craig Kielberger.  He is a true Canadian hero and this is his story.

Craig’s moment of truth happened over a bowl of cereal one morning when he was 12 years old.  Sitting at his family’s Thornhill kitchen table munching his cereal, he was about to dive into his regular morning routine – reading his favourite daily comics.  But this particular day, April 19, 1995, he didn’t get past the front headline; which was, “Battled Child Labour, boy, 12, murdered.”  The article read as follows:

“When Iqbal Masih was just 4 years old, his parents sold him into slavery for less than $16 Canadian.  For the next six years, he remained shackled to a carpet-weaving loom most of the time, tying tiny knots hour after hour.  By the age of 12, he was free and traveling the world in his crusade against the horrors of child labor.  On Sunday, Iqbal was shot dead while he and two friends were riding their bikes in their village.  Some believe his murder was carried out by angry members of the carpet industry who had made repeated threats to silence the young activist.”

Outraged and filled with questions, Craig began doing some research.  He read about children younger than him who spent endless hours in dimly lit rooms making carpets.  He found stories about kids who slaved in underground pits to bring coal to the surface and other reports of underage workers killed or maimed by explosions in fireworks factories.

He wondered what he could do – after all he was just one person.

He asked his grade 7 teacher if he could speak to the class.  He was nervous and uncertain, but he felt strongly about telling Iqbal’s story. He read the newspaper article and shared the information about child labour he found at the library and then he asked his classmates who wanted to volunteer to help him fight for children’s rights.  Eleven hands shot up and Free the Children was born.

During grade 8, Craig decided he wanted to go to Asia and see first hand the life of a child worker.

The 7 week trip had Craig meeting children who worked in the most inhumane conditions imaginable.  He met children as young as 5 working in brick kilns to pay off debts taken out by the parents or grandparents and passed from generation to generation.  The children were branded with hot irons on their arms, legs, necks & backs when they didn’t get enough work completed.  These children were slaves and had been robbed of their childhoods and dreams.  Craig was outraged and wanted to do something – ANYTHING to help.  Craig’s vision of providing safe schools for children of developing nations began at that moment. 

Although there are 218 million child labourers in the world today, that is 40 million fewer than when Free The Children was founded.

- built 500 new schools that educate over 50,000 children every day

- distributed 207,500 health kits  to children

- shipped more than $15 million US worth of medical supplies and built clinics that serve over half a million children in 40 countries

- equipped 23,500 women to be economically self-sufficient

- access to clean water for 138,500 men, women & children

91 cents of every dollar donated goes DIRECTLY to helping children!

More information can be found at www.freethechildren.com!