Aktívne občianstvo s UNIS Vienna

The first topic for the pre-final task was given to our finalists by the Office of the United Nations in Vienna. Students were asked to demonstrate their active citizenship via speech, video or a graphic visual on the following topic:

“How can young people contribute to fight hate speech, online and offline, and stand up for human rights and dignity and respect for all?”

Let us congratulate the best works but also give praise to all 9 students, who submitted their demonstration of active citizenship to the topic given by the Office of the United Nations in Vienna. The best works from this topic will be published in the coming days.

Prvú tému pre predfinálovú úlohu Prejav aktívneho občianstva zadal finalistom a finalistkám dvadsiateho ôsmeho ročníka OĽP Úrad Organizácie Spojených národov vo Viedni. Žiaci a žiačky mali prostredníctvom prejavu, videa alebo grafického výstupu prezentovať svoje aktívne občianstvo na tému:

„Ako môžu mladí ľudia prispieť k boju proti nenávistným prejavom v online aj offline priestore a postaviť sa za ľudské práva, dôstojnosť a rešpekt voči všetkým?“

Gratulujeme najlepším prácam, no zároveň patrí uznanie aj všetkým 9 študentom a študentkám, ktorí zaslali svoje prejavy aktívneho občianstva na tému zadanú Úradom Organizácie Spojených národov vo Viedni.

1. miesto - obraz:  Nela Gajdošová, Gymnázium, Pankúchova 6, Bratislava

The artwork depicts how hate speech contributes to inequal societal structures with barriers while acknowledging and celebrating the values of freedom, which, despite of oppression, remain powerful through solidarity and care.

The figure depicting a person holding a megaphone is a direct representation of hate speech. The base of that is covered with trash represented by crumpled paper and aluminium foil, which shows the value of principles upon which hate is based on, gradually merging with sign “Fake news”, becoming a one.

The crumpled pieces of aluminium foil coming from the megaphone is a symbol of hate speech, and create walls like ones in labyrinth, which make it impossible for people to reach the centre. The desired goal here, is a free society (therefore, one without hate), represented by values of cooperation depicted through a honeycomb, which is a symbol of philosophy upon which the community of bees live and flowers which represent the effectiveness of love in fighting hate.

I also decided to include symbols of such ideal relatable for Slovak context, which is represented by Družba fountain located in Freedom Square in Bratislava and the pin quoting the Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, representing local initiatives like Olympiad of Human Rights itself, which aim to contribute to such world. Another cultural reference is a picture of the first Slovak women’s rights activist and an author, Hana Gregorová, who more than depicting the significance of education, also stands as a symbol of resistance and ability to overcome the barriers set by hateful nature of society. The bridge on her right shoulder represents the path she’s made for new generations.

The outer left side of the work represents the impact of hate on vulnerable communities. The absence of barriers represents the freedom they carry. The ideals they strive to live by even despite the oppression already carry the strength that may be achieved once the centre is reached. This is also proved by the honeycomb, which symbolises the cooperative equal approach that takes place there already, because the hate is not powerful enough to ruin the innermost individual values. Probably the most prominent element here is a display of a crying eye under a torn paper at which the sharp edges of pieces of hate are targeted. Above that, there are lyrics to song Propojený made by Slovak and Czech artists as a response to terrorist attack targeted at queer community in Bratislava in 2022. Propojený means “connected” in Czech, that’s why there is a string connecting two people, who are spatially limited due to hate, to emphasise this unity. The watch depicting pulse represent the minority stress experienced by the vulnerable ones. The other watch stands for the time it takes the climbers to climb the mountain, which is a representation of the efforts to achieve a desired goal of ultimate freedom.

The shiny margins mimic mirrors, as the margin of a society mirrors what the society is truly like.

Obraz Nely Gajdošovej si môžete pozrieť nižšie.

2. miesto - video: Viktória Jančová, Gymnázium Andreja Vrábla, Mierová 5, Levice

The main message of this video is that the human rights are important, but they are not enough on their own. Laws and rights can protect people, create a fair society, but they only have a meaning when they are being used. In other words, we may see rights on paper, but they have no real power if people do not do the actions worthy of that power.

Nowadays, many countries have democratic systems, which guarantee

human rights such as freedom of speech, equality, and the right to vote. However, if people are passive, silent, or indifferent, these rights cannot be truly fair if citizens do not care about what is happening around them.

For the online world, some of the people may see this as the easier option

“you can just choose not to answer,” but these people do not realize that silence

can even lead to more harmful events or that mean words may actually do more

damage than physical violence does. The best thing we can do to fight these verbal attacks is to not ignore them. The offline world is not that different. I think

that schools are the most common environment where these actions occur, but this does not mean that such behavior cannot also happen at home. Anything can be the reason for someone’s suffering. A joke, a comment or even silence.

What people do not realize is that silence protects hate, not people. What I wanted to say is that you should be the one who chooses respect! Another important part of using our rights is having the courage to stand up for

others. When we see someone being insulted, bullied, or treated unfairly, even a

small action can make a difference. Supporting the victim, reporting harmful

behavior, or simply showing that hate is not acceptable can help create a safer and more respectful environment for everyone.

Therefore, the message I wanted to leave with this video is that rights are

necessary, but, unfortunately, they are not enough. The real strength comes from

the society, from people, from us.

Video vytvorené Viktóriou Jančovou nájdete pod týmto textom.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/d7d2de_063e8b5c8c914767aca4d514c9a22db7/360p/mp4/file.mp4

3. miesto - obraz: Timur Alexachin, Gymnázium sv. Moniky, Tarasa Ševčenka 1, Prešov

Contemporary society is becoming much faster paced than it was in the past. While creating a poster for a topic of such importance, I immediately focused on simplicity and the goal of not overwhelming the viewer with too much information. I came up with the idea of making an acronym to create a memorable compilation of “rules“ or suggestions to follow as a way for young

people to add their share towards fighting hate speech, stand up for human rights, dignity, and respect for all.

I specifically chose the word VOICE, because as of right now the biggest problem in our society is people not standing up and using their voice to confront violations of human rights, discrimination and actively argumenting against hate speech. I suggested 5 principles to follow in our day-to-day lives to see an advancement in this issue:

1. Value diversity

In my experience, the minority ethnicities have their dignity attacked and are the target of hate speech the most. To fight this, I suggested for people to realize that we can find value in our differences, instead of something that divides us. Without necessary respect for individual cultures, not only is integration much harder, but also creates unnecessary tension between different groups.

2. Oppose hate speech

Hate speech often comes across as intimidating when heard. Many of us have a problem with opposing it, even if experienced daily. The increasing amount of hate speech which can be found on social media also radicalizes young people, who take it as a base for their beliefs. Fighting it must become a priority to avoid a generation which creates their opinion on emotional statements instead

of facts. It is important for people to realize that hate speech stems from lack of arguments and prejudice or bias which can be disproven with critical thinking and rationales.

3. Include everyone

Inclusion serves a big part in easier integration, and the mutual contact of different groups lowers the barriers created by prejudice and bias. Personal experience always serves a purpose of educating people, that what they might have heard or seen in media about ethnicities is not always true.

4. Challenge prejudice and bias

Prejudice and bias are something we are all innately raised with and have close ties with what we become our beliefs. People should focus on challenging these archaic norms, because there are beliefs which have been created in the past and have no place in the modern world, right now only serving the purpose of spreading hate.

5. Empower respect and tolerance

Fighting the evil aspects of our society sometimes feels like an uphill battle. It is then that we must make sure that the goals such as mutual respect and tolerance which have taken and still take so much to be reached are rewarded and taken as a positive, something we should all strive for.

Nižšie môžete vidieť grafiku Timura Alexachina.

3. miesto - prejav: Michaela Tomášová, Gymnázium Ľudovíta Štúra, Hronská 1467 / 3, Zvolen

My intention in this speech is to withdraw the importance of this topic because I feel that the issue of violating human rights and hate speech is everywhere around us. People are hating on each other sometimes even without any real reason, often simply just because they feel like they can. My point was to encourage people to change their behavior at least a bit and also to make them think about how their activity online and offline can influence how people feel, how others see them.

I emphasized that our acts on social media can have a huge impact on individuals' mental but also physical health. At the same time, this speech explains what hate speech is and where we can meet it. Additionally I explained the issue of misunderstanding the question of the freedom of speech and when free speech becomes hate speech.

Another goal of this speech is to encourage young people to react and not to be quiet. Many people are afraid of being silenced by authorities or judged by others for standing up for other people. However, silence can allow hate speech to spread worldwide.

I also wanted to point out the importance of education and development of empathy towards the victims of hatred and discrimination. In the end I appealed to the public to contribute to create a world where everybody would feel equally accepted and respected.

Overall, this speech was written to motivate young people to do the actions against hate speech even though they might not personally feel responsible for it. It really is all around us and the quicker we learn how to deal with it, the quicker we can beat it. We as a society should always condemn these kinds of acts. When we want to change something, we have to start from us. Change is hard but very needed.

Prejav Michaely Tomášeovej si môžete prečítať nižšie.