Speak Out!

 YOUNG PEOPLE VOICE THEIR CONCERN ON...

The Arms Trade
by Kate Buckley, St. Wolston's Community School, Cellbridge, Co. Kildare

Violence. Murder. War. We see it on films and on television. We hear about it everyday on the news. From the murder of a security guard during a bank robbery, to the loss of millions of lives in a brutal civil war, it seems there is an endless pattern of conflict which leads to unnecessary killing in the world today and the constant availability of arms only fuels this. But what if we were to take these instant killing machines out of the equation? What would happen if there were no guns?

The answer is that almost half a million people each year would not die because of armed violence. The money spent on arms for war and violence (roughly $22billion dollars) in numerous poverty-stricken countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America could instead be spent on food, shelter, healthcare or education. A gun can give someone power over another person’s life, power that they do not have the right to have. Without arms women and children would not have to live in fear of the people who presently have the power to abuse and rape them at gunpoint.

The problem is that many powerful countries including France, USA, UK, Russia and China are exporting arms to these countries. In fact, the above countries, which are the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, are responsible for 88% of reported conventional arms exports. Even Ireland plays a part in providing weapons for these countries. Each year Ireland exports 30 million euro of military goods and 4 billion euro of dual-use goods, which can be used as part of weapons like missile systems or attack helicopters.

We can’t let this go on. We can help to control the amount of arms in circulation by joining Amnesty International’s Control Arms campaign. To do this, you can add a picture or self-portrait of your face to the Million Faces Petition. Amnesty International are hoping to gather a million photos and self-portraits of people all around the world which they will bring to the United Nations in New York in the summer of 2006 to demand that the governments do something to control the arms trade. You can also help by talking to people, raising awareness and support for the campaign and encouraging people to add their face to the Million Faces Petition.

If want to know more about the Control Arms Campaign and how you can help, you can also come to the Student and Youth Conference on the 25th March in Cultivate, the Sustainable Living Centre, Dublin on 25th March

Racism in Ireland
 by Caroline Vize, Our Lady's, Terenure Road, Dublin

From walking down Grafton Street or even strolling through the park, you will notice that Ireland has a multicultural population. You might not notice any difference between the shopkeepers and the doctors in Dublin, but some people do. Racism does exist in Ireland. There are still some individuals that have a problem with people who are of a different race, or have different coloured skin.

People in this country sometimes segregate people because of the colour of their skin. There is absolutely no need. We all breathe the same air, eat the same food, buy the same clothes and feel the same pain. People with a different skin colour or of a different cultural background are still all the same - but some people feel that we are very different. Why?

Some of the most powerful men and women in the world, to some of the best singers and rappers in the world and some of the world's greatest athletes, come from different races, or have widely different social and cultural backgrounds. They all contribute to society in the same way as you and me.

The world would be a very boring place if everybody was the same, so it's nice to have diversity in the world. Variety is the spice of life!

An issue which now, more than ever, is in the public eye is the position of women - particularly within developing or conservative countries. However violence against women is an issue which can affect women and girls anywhere, from an 11-year-old rape victim in Uganda, to a 45-year-old housewife in Galway suffering domestic abuse from a husband who promised to 'love and cherish' her for the rest of her life. Violence against women is an issue that can cross over the boundaries of age, social position, geography, race or education. This violence against women takes many different forms. There are the more obvious forms: rape, murder and sexual abuse - but there are other equally distressing forms of abuse that leave no physical bruises: being bullied, shouted at, ignored, made to feel unworthy and undesired and being denied financial freedom or freedom of movement.

Violence against women is often hidden behind a veil of denial, either because the victim is forced to deny it or does not wish to accept the fact that a loved one is abusing them. Also, in some cultures, social stigma is attached to abuse victims and victims who try escape this violence. For this reason, many victims choose to stay in their situation rather than face loosing their dignity and often their children and means of support.

Obviously, there are certain things that must be done. In countries where a woman faces losing her children, her rights, and sometimes her life, pressure must be put upon governments to open safe houses, introduce legislation to protect the rights of woman and educate and scrutinise police and armed forces, often perpetrators of this violence. This sort of pressure can be strengthened by acting in a group, which is why taking part in a campaign such as the Amnesty Stop Violence Against Women Campaign can support change.

In developed countries, where governments can be pressured to support education campaigns, more can be done to educate teenagers in schools, boys as well as girls, about violence against women and to bring their attention to the fact that this violence is in their country too, not just in other countries. And within our own communities, their will be opportunities to protect women, from serious abuse or perhaps from the little comments or negative attitudes that can be hurtful and encourage a tolerence of more serious abuse. It is these little actions which can help bring about a better attitude towards women and their vital role in our world and our communities.

Doing To kill a Mockingbird raised many discussions on racism in class. We talked about how racism can happen in many forms. In the book the two characters that are discriminated against are Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. The people of the Maycomb community pre-judged Boo; he was the subject of many rumours just because he never left his house. Tom Robinson was falsely accussed of raping a white girl and the novel follows his trial.

The theme of the novel is about seeing things from other people's points of view - 'climbing into somebody else's world and experiencing life through it.' We identified how the racism in the book is relevant to here and now, although it was written in 1960s Alabama. It shows how even though it was written some time ago, some peoples views have still not changed.