Tolerance Education Project

Workshop summary and report 

The goal of this project was to inrcease high-school students education in the field of human rights, especially anti-racism. To achieve this goal a 45 minutes long workshop for 15 participants was held. Between the participants there were students from different minorities.

Teaching tolerance in high schools reduces the incidence of hate crimes, racism, discrimination, and bigotry. Children are aware of racial and gender differences at a very young age, and by age twelve they have formed stereotypes. Tolerance education is most effective between the ages of four and nine years. Therefore, it is important to teach tolerance to young children and continue reinforcing the message over time.

The workshop was held:

• on 7^th of February 2015, at the Mándy Iván Szakképző Iskola és Speciális Szakiskola in Budapest, Hungary

Materials and resources:

For the Workshop we used the Football for Development Handbook, 2011 ( www.footballfordevelopment.net), SPIN – European Sport Inclusion Network publications and materials from the website of the Hungarian Ombudsman’s Office.

Participants:

The participants were 16 years old, Hungarian high school students. Some of them were from the Roma minority living in Hungary. Students had an excellent knowledge about racism and anti-racism and they understood the importance of human rights.

Method:

At first wee screened a 25 minutes long presentation about human rights, children’s rights, racism and gender equality. The presentation was made by the Mahatma Gandhi Human Rights Organization.

After the screening we managed a workshop, where we asked different questions from the students ( For example: What is racism?, What do you know about racism?, What do you think about racism? Have you ever met racism in your life?, etc.). During the workshop we tried to target all the participants and to establish constructive dialogs.

Summary:

All participants were happy about the workshop and they reported positive feedback. Schools are the second home for children and this school should be an incredible example for other schools. The ideology and the atmosphere of this school have a great influence on children’s behaviour.