1. Human Rights: The Value of A Person
By: Kim Lontoc 8-73
As an individual, we do not really notice what we have until it is gone. We don’t really notice all the small
things that make up the matter of life and what we should cherish and protect. But what if you have never
had something you blindly did not notice? What if you did not have what other people in the world lack
tremendously on today? Would you stay in your position which you are afraid to step out on, or would you
take that leap of faith because you know what is right? You know what you deserve? Quoted by an
unknown author, “We protect only what we love, we love only what we know, and know only what we are
taught.” Unfortunately, adolescents and a load full of human beings do not know the unspoken lives of
those we do not even have the rights to do things they want to do. They do not have the same rights and
values as others from developed countries. But even living in the society of rights which rights are easily
gained, there are some people who still lack the rights everyone in the world needs. Then again, a large
percentage of people who know about the lack of Human Rights and child labour in different corners of the
world know, but do not do anything to change their concerns. This needs to be changed because we must
be taught to take action and do what is right. We are responsible for each other. Every human being in the
world, no matter what ethnicity, colour, religious beliefs, or gender, is entitled to having Human Rights, and
the life of liberty we are capable of having.
Human Rights is not only a target we should be willing to stop, but child labour includes what we should be
concerned about also, because child labour is a major block that prevents children’s rights. “The change
starts within each one of us, and ends only when all children are free to be children.” (Craig Keilburger)
Even Craig Keilburger, a man who is against child labour knows how crucial child labour can be and how
this simple world wide every day problem could harm and cause death to one singular individual child in our
world today. It is the fact that there are child labourers around the world who work long hours on regular or
full time-basis, but the scary things is, out of 218 million child labourers, 73 million of them are as young as
10 years old. (Free the Children Article, Child Labour) Article 36 of Children’s Rights quotes, “You have the
right to any kind of exploitation or being taken advantage of,” but sadly, a majority of these rights are not
even known and are unseen by children hidden from the dark, and sometimes all they could do is be kept
pushed away by the rights that should be automatically given to them.
Some people do not have the opportunities to gain freedom and stand up to what they deserve, but
instead, lose these rights. The reason why children have declined access to a bright future is because they
are stuck living in the reality of loss rights. Globally, discrimination of society, solidarity of the rights to
religion, gender or beliefs, and children who cannot get an education are the factors that help poverty
position you in a difficult lifestyle, which needs to be changed. Loss of rights such as protection from
physical and sexual abuse, to practice your own culture, health care, free speech, and education are only
some of the situations millions of people suffer in, but because poverty is one subject that affects these
citizens, the possibility of capturing Human Rights can’t be proceeded unless we take care of each other,
and the components that build up poverty, which is again, the loss of Human Rights. Somewhere in
between the gaps of 7 billion people in the world today face these needs and losses of Human Rights, but
we can work together to create a positive world full of respect for the coloured, gender based, young, the
old, and people who have all the same bones and insides as everyone else, and to change this negative
world into a positive for the better.

2. Even though we think we cannot change the loss of rights and are hopeless into thinking there is nothing
we can do to help, as long as we stand here on earth, breathing the toxic harshness of society and what it
does to us, we are responsible for changing this so that we actually can make a difference. If we really
wanted change, we would make change, because as Ghandi once said, “Be the change you wish to see in
the world.” In the Human Rights fact sheet, “about 500 000 children are left motherless by death in child
birth,” but stated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child, “Every child has the right to lie.”
(Article 6) This does not only mean children, it means a variety of different people who no matter who they
are, not by how much they have lived, or the mistakes they have encountered along the way. I think
education is a pathway to triumph the dark days. When you have education, there is a better chance of
living a better life. This happens when you finish school and get a job to provide for your family. Gaining
education means a right to life and surviving. It means having enough money for basic rights such as rights
to food and shelter, all because you got an education. So why not raise money or start an organization to
build more schools to educate more students and children from all corners of the world? We should start
raising awareness and get others to comprehend the importance of these different rights. Because
educating others means educating yourself to know that all people are worthy to living and having Human
Rights.
The power of faith can move us, and maybe even help us strike to take action, and the dream of equality
and Human Rights is even inevitable. Basically, the main pin point of what others in the world including me
is trying to say is that we cannot acquire peace, or the world we imagine as liberated and achievable,
unless we recall and appreciate the rights and feelings of each human being. To become aware of a single
persons dignity is the first step out of many to start a world wide historical change; that all rights are met to
all people living on earth. In order for development, the world needs everyone to participate. Even one
singular human being can create a chain reaction of hope and perseverance. The Universal Declaration of
Human Rights is only a mirror that reflects upon us and reminds us how valuable the rights of a child, an
adult, or a new born baby may be, but to make it a reality, we have to build upon our future ourselves. A
right is nothing without a soul, but a soul is nothing without a reason to live.