Chinese International School's student human rights group
A group of students have become champions of social justice at their school, writes Anjali Hazari
Students in their final school year usually have little time to pay attention to anything outside the immediate demands of projects, exams and trying to keep sane under a hectic schedule. Yet a small group of teenagers at Chinese International School (CIS) have made it their mission to champion human rights issues across the school.
Their commitment and maturity has been a revelation - and inspiration - to grown-ups around them, especially Brian Kern, the English teacher they invited to guide them.
A member of Amnesty International's human rights education team before he joined CIS four years ago, Kern was keen to share his experience with colleagues and students even if he did not expect much enthusiasm.
"At first no one was interested, but one day in 2009, a student came to me and said he thought he could get a few people interested and wondered if I might be willing to advise them," he recalls.
That student, Liu Yi-wei, roped in his sister Yi-ling. Since then, Yi-ling, along with schoolmates Lewis Ho, Stephanie Cheung, Kaitlin Chan and Adrien Yeung, all in the final year of their International Baccalareate diploma this year, have become core members of a team that has swelled to more than 30 active members.
One of the most dynamic groups at the school, they mounted seven major campaigns in one year alone, staging documentary screenings, exhibitions and panel discussions with guest speakers, as well as organising petitions and silent vigils. The students highlighted issues ranging from labour rights and gender bias to the plight of mainland dissidents such as jailed Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo and blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng.