Sometimes I have trouble finding the words to talk to my kids about the violence that hear about in the news, the injustices that they see in our own community. As a human rights lawyer, it is my job is to document and expose human rights abuses. But I have always struggled with how to communicate to my kids what human rights are and why they should care about them.
Recently, however, I was preparing for a project that involved interviewing children about their experiences. Experts advise that interviewers use simple language when speaking with children about difficult topics. “Simple language” means avoiding big words, of course, but it also means using simple, direct sentences. Straight-forward grammar – subject and predicate in sentences; basic speech parts – nouns and verbs and adjectives. I suddenly realized what I was doing wrong in talking about human rights with my kids. Rather than explaining complicated concepts, what I needed to do was break it down to the core values that everyone needs to live fully in this world. I needed to start with the basic building blocks of language: words.
Once I realized this, I started to see human rights words all around me! Words like:
and
and
Verbs like
and
and
and
Nouns were all around me!
and
and
and
I saw adjectives, too!
and
I started pointing out these words to my daughter, who is seven. Just last week, she was running past the table in the entryway where we put our mail. Suddenly, she came to a screeching halt in front of the stamps.
“Look, mommy,” she said. “The stamps are speaking the language of human rights!”
My daughter was exactly right. The stamps said: equality, justice, freedom, liberty. Powerful words that convey basic human rights concepts.
What human rights words do you see around you? Take a picture and post them on the World Moms Blog facebook page.
We can’t wait to see the human rights words in your community!
It is always great when we find a way to explain complicated concepts to our children, isn’t it? Keeping it all simple and straight forward makes sense to me too.
PS I love how you’ve used pictures on this post, Jennifer.
Exactly, Karyn! Simple and straightforward. By the way, all of these photos I took with my phone. Many I took in my neighborhood when I was out for a jog or a walk. Once I tuned into looking for simple words that mean human rights to me, I started seeing them ALL around. It’s not complicated – it’s what we all need to do to make this world a better place for our kids. Thanks so much for your comment!
This post gave me goosebumps and a really warm feelings. Weird combo but it happened. You are wonderful Jennifer!
Thanks so much, Maureen!
I second Maureen’s comment! 🙂
Thank you, Simona!
How beautiful, Jennifer, and what a great idea to look around for the language of human rights in your everday with the kids. Love this!!
Jen 🙂
Thanks, Jen. Sometimes I think kids are better at seeing these kinds of things than adults. I know I could learn a lot from my kids about making connections!
This is beautiful Jennifer, I am surely going to look for words like that around me! This post is like an eye-opener! Thank you for the inSpiration!
Should I create a separate album on our fb page for those words!?
Great idea, Ewa! I’ve found even more since I wrote this post. We could add words in any language, too. Thanks for your comment!
great!!! please email me all of your pictures and I will create the album. I think it will inspire many people to look around more closely!!!