This year The Kemper Human Rights Education Foundation sponsored two essay contests: one for high school students in the United States and one for high school students in other countries. The essays were due on November 22. 115 essays were received from students from 13 high schools in the U.S. and 34 essays from students in 11 high schools in four other countries. The tables below list the names of the students and the titles of their essays.
THE QUESTION STUDENTS IN THE U.S. WERE ASKED TO ADDRESS WAS: Eric Posner, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School claims “the central problem with human rights law is that it is hopelessly ambiguous” and that this ambiguity allows “governments to rationalize almost anything they do.”¹ With that thought in mind, how would you respond to the argument that in calling for banning refugees from Muslim countries from traveling to the United States, deporting undocumented immigrants, and bringing back waterboarding President Trump is ensuring that every citizen’s “right to life, liberty and security of person” is enforced?² In other words, do some rights (e.g. the right of citizens to be secure) take precedence over other rights (e.g. the right of suspects not to be tortured)? And if so how should the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights documents be amended to specify what should be done when one right conflicts with another?
¹ The Case Against Human Rights, https://www.theguardian.com/news/2014/dec/04/-sp-case-against-human-rights
² Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” Article 5 reads: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
THE QUESTION STUDENTS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES WERE ASKED TO ADDRESS WAS: What is the most important human rights issue in the country where you live and/or the world and what should be done about it?
LIST OF U.S. HIGH SCHOOLS
BO: Boardman High School, Youngstown, Ohio.
BX: Bronx High School of Science, New York City, New York
CA: Catonsville High School, Baltimore, Maryland
EA: Eastchester High School, Eastchester, New York
HG: Horace Greely High School, Chappaqua, New York
GR: Greenwich High School, Greenwich, Connecticut
JB: James Hubert Blake High School, Silver Springs, Maryland
MA: Mamaroneck High School, Mamaroneck, New York
MI: Millburn High School, Millburn, New Jersey
PO: Poland Seminary High School, Poland, Ohio
ST: Staples, Westport, Connecticut
SV: Stuyvesant High School, New York City, New York
TR: Traip Academy, Kittery, Maine
| BO | Delaney Pollak | Human Right or Human Flight |
| BX | Alex Chen | Debugging Human Rights |
| BX | Janet Kyi | Human Rights: The Law that Takes Priority |
| CA | Mikaylan Diallo | We Hold These Truths: Precedents for Freedom of Religion in America |
| EA | Enzali Myint | Human Rights Doesn’t mean All Rights |
| GR | Elizabeth Biederman | Human Rights as a Threat to National Security |
| GR | Julia Blank | Competing Rights of Man and Government |
| GR | Sasha Burnett | Equality in Citizens, Equality in Rules |
| GR | Dylan Camacho | The Intolerable Degradation of Human Rights Under Trump |
| GR | Chris Keyser | Terror Torture Protection, where do rights fit in? |
| GR | Andrew McNamara | What History and Rest of the World Say about Rights. |
| GR | Michael McNulty | Liberty vs Security in the Modern World |
| GR | Lauren O’Donnell | The Ambiguity of Human Rights |
| GR | Zachary Wang | Equality for All |
| GR | Emily Warner | Rights That are Precedence Over Others Given to Humans Under Certain Circumstances |
| HG | Naomi Abe | America's Human Rights Crisis |
| HG | Natalie Acevedo | Is President Trump Ensuring That Every Citizen's "Right To Life, Liberty And Security Of Person" Is Enforced? |
| HG | Henry Asa | How The Rights Of All Human Beings Precedes Those Of Certain Few |
| HG | Natalie Bass | Rights For All |
| HG | Talia Belowich | Human Rights |
| HG | Ryan Bernbach | The National Security Struggle |
| HG | Anjali Bhattacharyya | No Title |
| HG | Davin Bhatti | The Shining City Upon the Hill |
| HG | Griffin Brown | The Difficult Compromise Between Security and Human Rights |
| HG | Spencer Brown | Important Policy Changes and Their Effects |
| HG | Elizabeth Chen | Preserving American Values: The Battle Between National Security And Human Rights |
| HG | Holly Cheng | The Challenge of Establishing Peace |
| HG | Elijah Cohen | Human Rights Essay |
| HG | Noah Falbaum | The Precedence of Life Above all other Human Rights |
| HG | Nathan Ferreira | The Life, Liberty, and Security of Muslim Americans and Torture Victims |
| HG | Remi Fisher | The Impact of The “Muslim Ban” and Other Precautions to Reduce Terrorism |
| HG | Matt Friedman | Modern American Xenophobia |
| HG | Richard Fu | The Solution of the Conflict between Rights |
| HG | Paul Garell | Are US Citizens Basic Rights Protected? |
| HG | Kathryn Genda | Our Current Government and the Repercussions of Their Legislative |
| HG | Julia Glynn | The Nation America has Become |
| HG | Ethan Glynn | The Effect of Human Rights on National Security |
| HG | Yael Goldberg | The Widespread Human Rights Violations Among the US Government |
| HG | Georgia Goldstein | Making America, Not So, Great Again |
| HG | Nora Goodman | Protecting Human Rights: Post 9/11 |
| HG | Cameron Grant | The Right to Life, Liberty, and Security |
| HG | Justin Herzner | President Trump on Human Rights |
| HG | Zain Jafar | Individual Rights Versus National Security |
| HG | Ben Johns | America’s last line of defense |
| HG | Sarah Kamal | Human Rights in Regards With the Universal Declaration of Human Rights |
| HG | Arden Katz | National Security Should Not Take Precedence Over Individual Rights |
| HG | David Katz | Putting the “Universal” Back in the UDHR |
| HG | Katherine Kissane | The Karmic Consequence of Waterboarding and the Muslim Ban |
| HG | Meredith Klepper | Exclusion From Freedom |
| HG | John Laidlaw | Role of Government |
| HG | Isabella Lais | Security, Travel Bans, and Deportation Uncertainties in America |
| HG | Sophia Lee | Whose and Which Rights are a Priority? |
| HG | Melody Leibner | Humanity is a Birthright, not a Privilege |
| HG | Ellie Leibner | Waterboarding Down the Slippery Slope of Security: What is the Price of our Rights? |
| HG | Dorothy Low | Human Rights in Regards to National Security |
| HG | Max A. Maauer | Freedom? |
| HG | Helen Matthews, | The Importance of Individuals |
| HG | Dylan Marcus | The United States Of Islamophobia |
| HG | Allie Meshberg | Human Rights: Not Human Wrongs Not Human Lefts Either! |
| HG | Amanda Michael | A Universal Declaration? |
| HG | Jacob Miller | History Must Not Repeat |
| HG | Luke Mozarsky | Addressing the Balance of “Human Rights” in Today’s Society |
| HG | Emily Nobel | A Shift in America |
| HG | Bjorn Pagen | Exist |
| HG | Dyllon Preston | Human Rights Versus the United States |
| HG | Krishna Ramaswamy | A Conflict Between National Security and Human Rights |
| HG | Lily Restivo | Trump’s America – Safe or Just Paranoid? |
| HG | Zane Riemer | Human Rights and the Muslim Ban |
| HG | Hailey Rosenthal | Allowing Refugees In and Not Allowing Waterboarding Will Help America |
| HG | Emma Rosh | American Rights As A Whole |
| HG | Sophia Rutman | The Effects of the Muslim Ban and Waterboarding on the Safety of America and the Rights of Citizens, as relating to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights |
| HG | Lindsay Schwartz | The Enduring Importance of Individual Rights in a Post 9/11 World |
| HG | Olivia Serpico | Does the Muslim Ban really take all rights into account? |
| HG | Isabella Smith | I’m Sorry That Our Nation Has Lied to You |
| HG | Eric Song | Conflicting Rights: When Individuals’ Clash with a Nation’s |
| HG | Sam Stewart | American Citizens & American Ignorance |
| HG | Pranay Talla | Trump versus Immigrants: Resolving the Conflicting Human Rights in America Today |
| HG | Christina Tavlarakis | The Rights if a Citizen versus the Right of the Individual |
| HG | Charlotte Templeton | The Occurrence of Violations of Human Rights in the United States |
| HG | Bailey Todtfeld | A Nation of Immigrants Shutting the Door |
| HG | Penelope Toll | Inalienable Human Rights Take Precedence Over National Security |
| HG | Ellen Tsai | America: Against Human Rights |
| HG | Casey Wachtel | Exclusion and Torture: Two Despicable Violations of Human Rights |
| HG | Mariah Walsh | Waterboarding: It’s Never Okay |
| HG | Trevor Weinstein | The Issue of Conflicting Human Rights in American Society |
| HG | Claire Weis | National Security is not a Right |
| HG | Alec Xiang | The Case for Waterboarding and Deportation of Illegal Immigrants |
| HG | Daniel Xu | The Problems Undermining our Nation |
| HG | Rebecca Zadeck | Citizens’ Rights |
| HG | Edward Zhang | Looking In The Mirror |
| HG | Luiza Zibenberg | Donald Trump Denies Individual Rights to Millions |
| JB | Sahar Siddique | An Undrawn Line |
| MA | Alex Avila | The Real Problem with America! |
| MA | James Anderson | American Policy: Wrongs and Rights |
| MA | Kerry Soropoulos | The Conflict and Conundrum of Rights |
| MI | Anshul Nayar | What Injures One Injures Us All |
| PO | Chelsea Kilgore | The Rights of the People |
| PO | Victoria Peek | The Problem is Simple |
| ST | Elana Atlas | Fighting Fire with Love |
| ST | Ruby Coleman | The Inequalities of Equality |
| ST | Maddy Edwards | The Priority Problem With Human Rights |
| ST | Hannah Even | An Ever Changing World |
| ST | Charlotte Harbottle | Human Rights and the Muslim Refugee Crisis |
| ST | Shane Gordon | The Equal Importance of Human Rights |
| ST | Anna Hill | The Importance of Freedom of Speech |
| ST | Samuel D. Kleiner | The Immoral Policy of Selecting Human Rights Based on Identity |
| ST | Poppy Livingston | Human Rights Essay |
| ST | Gary Lu | UDHR Essay |
| ST | Chloe Matteson | You Only Live Once |
| ST | Sophie Mulhern | Changing the System |
| ST | Teagan Smith | The Precedence Problem With Human Rights |
| ST | Derek Ye | Being The Change I Want To See In The World |
| ST | Sam Zuckerman | The Political Letdown? |
| SV | Hana Kim | To Right the Wrongs |
| TR | Emma Ackerman | Ambiguity in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights |
LIST OF ESSAYS FROM ABROAD
AF: Africa Tikkun, Johannesburg, South Africa
AM: American International School, Johannesburg, South Africa
CG: Collegiate Girl’s High, 19 Kestell Street, Parsons Hill, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
DS: Diocesan School for Girls, Duxbury Road, Hillcrest, Pretoria, South Africa
ED: EDUCAnet Praha gymnazium SOŠ, Prague, Czech Republic
GJP: Gymnazium Jana Palacha, Pštrossova 13, Prague, Czech Republic
MA: Maritzburg College, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
MI: Mahdavi International Educational Complex, Tehran, Iran
NA: Nad Alejí gymnasium, Prague, Czech Republic
WG: Wesley Girls’ High School, Cape Coast, Ghana
WY: Wynberg Boys’ High School, Lovers Walk, Wynberg Cape Town, South Africa
| AF | Katlego Mamabolo | Say no to woman and child abuse |
| AM | Debarya Guha | A Crisis Rooted in Society: Gender Inequality |
| AM | Estelle-Erika Nkamla Nziki | LGBT + RIGHTS |
| AM | Georges-William Nkamla Nziki, | Disabled Children are Denied the Right to Education |
| CG | Soleil Botha | भाईबंदी, kameraadskap, اد ن سالح ال ,comeradeship… |
| CG | Allegra Cavallari | Abolitionists |
| CG | Erin Lovemore | Unemployment as the main Human Rights issue in South Africa |
| CG | Temba Madiba | Racism as an Important Human Rights Issue |
| DS | Amogelang Matlhaga | The Voice of a Child |
| ED | Tran Viet Anh | How Fear of the Unknown Make People Care Less About Human Rights |
| ED | Karolína Mia Bartošová | The “us” and the “them” |
| ED | Jan Srna | What is the most important human rights issue in your country and/or the world and what should be done about it? |
| GJP | Kryštof Bradáč | Communism in the Czech Republic |
| GJP | Issmat Cheikh Ibrahim | The Most Important Human Rights issue |
| GJP | Mohammad Cheikh Ibrahim | The Plague of Society |
| GJP | Kilian Marques | Is Everybody Equal? |
| GJP | Ondřej Mrázek | Tendency to Totalitarianism |
| GJP | Andrej Tobiáš | Human Rights in the Czech Republic |
| MA | Imran Oliphant | No Title |
| MA | Siphesihle Lindubuhle Tshabalala | Homophobia and the Gender Spectrum in Relation to Social Teachings |
| MI | Yaas Farzanefar | A Dream Far from Reality |
| NA | Michaela Králová | Populism in Czech Republic in view of the Refugee crisis It always comes down to education |
| WG | Lily Ofori-Amanfo | Our Right to Human Dignity, Has it Been Waived? |
| WG | Appiah-Gyimah Peniella Awurakua | Freedom of Speech and Public Expression: Abuse and Infringement Upon |
| WG | Princess Adwoa Nyinaku Asante | Our Right to the Human Right to Life |
| WG | Audrey Obuobisa-Darko | An Abundance of Those Who Never Had a Childhood |
| WG | Marcia Koampah | Child Labour in Ghana and how it Infringes on the Rights of a Child |
| WG | Issah Nadia Kuukua, | The Echelons Held by Our Faith Must be Equal |
| WG | Eunice Naana Koomson | Right to Freedom from Mental Abuse, Slavery and Servitude |
| WG | Yvette Edinam Kakra Kordjie | The Menacing Menace |
| WG | Maame Aba Arhinmah Mensah | Instant Justice Or Instant Injustice |
| WG | Lucy Atwei Tagoe | What Is The Most Important Human Right Issue In Your Country and What Should be Done About It |
| WY | Kamvalethu Sabela | Why the access to quality education, depends on one’s level of wealth and privilege? |
| WY | Mika Schubert | Simultaneous Inequalities |