CyberFair Project ID: 4916

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International Schools CyberFair Project Narrative
Title: Globalisation: A Tool to Promote Human Rights
Category: 2. Community Groups and Special Populations
URL: http://globalhumanrights.awardspace.com/
Bibliography: http://globalhumanrights.awardspace.com/Bibliography.html

School: Hwa Chong Institution (High School Section)
    Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

4 students, ages 15 and 16 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 14, 2007. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2007,2006

Classes and Teachers: Giam-Lim Shiau Yean, Yikai, Jiaxi, Weipin, Kaiqing

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.hwachong.edu.sg

Project Overview

1. Description of Our Team

Our team is made up of 4 students as well as 1 adult-teacher-mentor. All of us are currently students in Hwa Chong Institution (High School Section). This team is made up of a mixture of students with differing talents and characteristics. However, what all of us have in common is our strong-will, great sense of responsibility and our ambition to understand and to contribute to the world that we live in. With all these qualities, our team hopes to understand the intricacies in the relationship between globalization and human rights issue and how globalization can and will help to resolve these human rights violation issues.

Yi Kai, “I am a highly capable 16 year-old. As the inspirational leader and webmaster (a very good one) for the group, I strive to maintain the constant synergy of the group. I take charge of all the information that my group members send me and organize them into more palatable chunks for readers (like you!) to digest. I have a wonderful ability to give everything that extra shine to it. As the vice-chairman of the ‘Mediatech Club’ in my school, I possess immense web-creation and design skills (beyond my group members). As the ex-Vice Chairman of the Ortus Council (House committee), I have the experience to boss other people around.”

Wei Pin, “I am 15, and am the chief concept manager of our group. My excellent ability to grasp complex concepts makes me the most suitable for this role. Participating in science competitions has allowed me to grasp otherwise complicated concepts with great ease. I am currently the Vice-President of the Roots and Shoots club in my school.”

Kai Qing, “I am 15 years old, and am the data assistant in our group. I am in charge of doing research and writing on ‘Honour Killing’ in Pakistan. I am a highly compassionate student and am the captain of the Badminton club in our school. My ability to take up great responsibility makes me a very suitable person for this job.”

Jia Xi, “Hi, I am 15 years old, am also the data assistant in our group. With my great passion in the area of humanities especially social sciences, I was left in charge with doing research and writing on ‘Trokosi’ in Ghana. I am also a highly devoted and responsible student. My active participation in discussions during lesson (or project discussions) makes me one of the most vocal in the group.”

2. Summary of Our Project

One day, during our discussion sessions (in front of workstations, televisions and radios), we coincidentally chanced upon a documentary on BBC. As we were reflecting on the news, we realised that Honour Killing is actually a violation of human rights and many are currently suffering under the cruelty of Honour Killing. This news sparked off our interest to find out more about Honour Killing and human rights. Our thirst for knowledge also led us to ponder, “Why are there such violations in our ‘modern’ society?” We then brainstormed for possible reasons and methods. We came to a consensus that Globalisation can actually be a possible method to promote human rights. At the same time, we also found another case study to work on – Honour killings.

Although gender equality has been almost taken for granted in the developed countries that we are living in, in other parts of the world women of all ages are still receiving unfair, unjustified treatment and physical abuses. These act of violence and abuse are still relatively prominent in certain places especially countries in the Middle East and Africa. Though such issues receive much global attention, little significant and long-term actions and progresses have been made. A recent international phenomenon, Globalisation, seeks to provide a long-term and sustainable resolution for these problems. Therefore, this project aims to increase awareness among the masses about the abuses women receive in certain countries and to study whether globalisation is able to resolve this social disparity.

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:more than 50%

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:more than 6

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:more than 6

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

There are many challenges and obstacles which we faced in the course of the project. One of which is the incompatible schedule that we all have. Therefore, in order to overcome clashes in our schedule, we often meet online when all of us are free to discuss on the progress of our project.

Secondly, one concern while doing our project is the reliability of the information that we have used. (e.g. Human Rights organisation websites might dramatise the issue, press might sensationalise the real situation, locals might tone down the impacts of the problem). Furthermore, information on Trokosi and Honour Killings are not readily available in our libraries so we turned to online journals and magazines which reported on these two cases of abuses. Although we were relying heavily on internet sources and press articles, we evaluated the information that we use with great caution so that the information presented on our website is not bias.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

Do you have rights? Many of us think we do, yet abuses infringing these rights are still happening. What exactly is Globalisation? Why is there such a big fuss about Globalisation? What are some of the most pressing human rights violation issues in the world? In what way can Globalisation solve these problems in the long run? These are just some of the questions that the students have to ponder over during the course of the project. Radical cultures and value systems of some countries infringe on the universal rights and privileges of a human. However, they are also receiving more and more condemnation from other countries. A long-term and sustainable resolution to these human rights violation issues could well lie on Globalisation. The promotion of human rights through globalisation would hopefully raise awareness and empower people to take actions against such abuses, and eventually marginalise and eliminate all human rights violation issues through the fostering of a common human rights value system among all humans.

6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?

One of the main elements of our curriculum and coursework involves the studying of the intricacies of Globalisation and its effects (positive and negative) on various countries as part of our Integrated Humanities Core subject. This project is greatly relevant to our subject study. During the course of this project, we utilised many academic sources as well as non-academic sources. Hence, it is paramount that we sieve through these information and only take relevant, reliable and accurate information from each source. These research skills are not only pertinent to our school work (and this project), it would also help us greatly in the future when we enter the workforce.

Another important skill which we learnt was how to brainstorm for ideas, the first step in every project, the brainstorming session of my group, facilitated by our adult-mentor, was especially interesting and engaging and allowed us to understand each other’s interest better. The brainstorming session also allowed us to think flexibly and fluently.

During the course of the project, we also practiced extensive team support, helping one another out in our areas of weakness, and providing aid and advice to the work done by each other. This is a great chance for us to diversify the views of the group and also for one another to learn from our mistake, so that our bonds in the team and as such the team would be enhanced.

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Project Elements

1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your CyberFair project?

Our project utilised extensive technology in the course of the project. We used almost every single piece of consumer electronics possible, computers, telephones, camera, computer software (thanks to Adobe™ for their Photoshop™ software, Dreamweaver™ software and Flash™ software), the internet, recording device. During the course of the project, we utilised the Windows™ Live Messenger™ software extensively for our communications. We also utilised our mobile phones greatly to send short messages to our adult-mentor and teammates. Email was also used to send out messages to organisations and individuals who can provide us with a better insight into our project. We also used the vast resources on the net to find information for our project. We even used the online database of our local library to search for books so as to save us more time.

2) In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your CyberFair project both on-line and in person.

As ambassadors of our project, we have to inform the masses on the types of human rights violations which are prominent in certain parts of the world. Description of such human rights violations, especially those that involves violence has stirred up much sentiment in the group. After the initial presentation on human rights violations, we moved on to talk about the relationship that Globalisation has with the promotion of human rights and how it can solve these human rights violation issues. We started out by presenting our project to students and teachers during the project presentation session of our school’s Project’s Day. As we progressed through the various levels, we get a chance to present to a wider group of student, teachers as well as influential external judges. The good results we achieved in this competition allowed us to gain recognition and acknowledgement from our teachers to present our project nationally and internationally. In order to further spread the information we have collated, emails were send out to the masses to inform them of our website and in hope that they will forward the email to more people. We also plan to present during the level assembly as well as to community groups such as the area’s Youth Executive Committee so as to raise the overall awareness of people towards such human rights violations as well as the role which Globalisation can take.

The creation of the website for our project would bring the level of awareness to human rights violations to a whole new level with thousands more people visiting our site and learning more about such violations as well as the role which Globalisation can take. The link of our project site will also be publicized to encourage students alike in the local community to visit the website. We will also be setting up online communities, such as forums, to allow visitors to voice out their opinions and insights on this issue. Similarly, we will be starting threads in other major forums to raise discussion to this issue and to bring awareness to our website. Besides these, we will also be providing our contact emails on the website so as to allow any queries to be directed straight to us. We will try our best to answer these queries.

3) What has been the impact of your project on your community?

“Globalisation: A Tool to Promote Human Rights” is aimed at educating and informing people in the community, so that global citizens will gain more awareness on such human rights violations that is happening around the world. Through the presentations that we have made and will make in the near future, we hope to raise the awareness of the general public on such human rights violations (including incidences of violence and abuses which are prominent in certain parts of the world). In our website, we included information on the brutality of these human rights violations and the barbarism of such cruel violence and abuses. This is done in order to allow more people to understand the sufferings the less fortunate in other parts of the world are enduring and also, to public sentiments to such issues. We hope that after visitors have understood the intricacies of such violations, they would in turn request their government to pressurise authorities, where such violations are found, to curb future occurrences of these atrocities. We hope to receive replies from the visitors on how their own insights towards such violence and how they can help in curbing them.

Our website also provides a new insight and perspective to the various benefits of globalisation, this is a new aspect of globalisation which is often neglected by many (the positive effects it has on human rights issues). It will therefore make a difference as readers will have a better understanding of how globalisation can help solve human rights violation issues.

4) How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?

We made contacts with experts in this field of study. One of the experts we sought professional opinion was Assistant Professor Anthony Owusu-Ansah from Lindsey-Wilson College in Columbia, Kentucky, USA after we read his article published on a webpage.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

We made many shocking and interesting discoveries during the course of our project. Not only did it increase our knowledge on the types of human rights violations around the world, it also made us cherish the life we have at the moment. Being exposed to the sufferings of the victims of these abuses, we were more motivated to help them by increasing the awareness of the masses through our project. We also realise the important role globalisation and diplomacy play in altering the attitudes and mindset of the masses, so that such violence can be curbed. In addition, we gained more insight on what globalisation is and the large amount of influential power it encompasses. This lesson has once again taught us the need to be well-prepared and to do consistent work. Do you have rights? We say, “Yes, you do!”

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