Day for Tolerance
“Tolerance is giving to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself.”
Robert Green Ingersoll
On the day of its fiftieth anniversary, 16 November 1995, UNESCO's Member States adopted a Declaration of Principles on Tolerance. Among other things, the Declaration affirms that tolerance is neither indulgence nor indifference. It is respect and appreciation of the rich variety of our world's cultures, our forms of expression, and ways of being human. Tolerance recognizes the universal human rights and fundamental freedoms of others. People are naturally diverse; only tolerance can ensure the survival of mixed communities in every region of the globe.
Along with outright injustice and violence, discrimination and marginalization are common forms of intolerance. Education for tolerance should aim at countering influences that lead to fear and exclusion of others, and should help young people develop capacities for independent judgement, critical thinking, and ethical reasoning. The diversity of our world's many religions, languages, cultures, and ethnicities is not a pretext for conflict but a treasure that enriches us all.
At ACS, the Embrace Club initiates the annual celebration of the Day for Tolerance because we believe that every individual should at least try to understand and accept other perspectives, beliefs, and cultures. This year, the focus of the day was naturally driven to the Syrian refugee crisis in Bulgaria and abroad.
The first initiative was addressed to the senior class and the club prepared a lesson for their advisory period on November 3, which offered the seniors the chance to learn more about the life of migrants in Bulgaria and get acquainted with examples of kindness, support, and charity already offered to migrants by individuals and organizations in the country.
On November 16, during consultation, the members of the club held a student survey and conversations at the most common places on campus, such as the cafeteria, Dafina’s Garden and Onda Cafe. The aim was to find out how people from the college react to the current wave of migrants in Bulgaria, provide more information about both the local and global aspects of the problem, and involve students from each grade in a short discussion. Hopefully, this would help participants to develop a better grasp of the problem rather than be ignorant or prejudiced towards the situation.
The overall feedback the initiative received was very positive and demonstrated that students are aware, very well informed, and sympathetic to the sufferings of the people displaced from their home country. The participants were mostly 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th graders. They had the patience and curiosity to discuss the issue which tragically overlapped with the terrorist attacks in Paris. All students were deeply touched by the attacks in Paris and also well informed about the other terrorist attacks that occurred over the previous days. Larger groups of students were a bit more difficult to talk to as they may have felt obliged to act and say certain things in front of their friends, so the club members chose to approach smaller groups or individuals as they felt much more comfortable to talk about the problem. Embrace members were amazed by the enthusiasm and the friendly attitude they met. Everybody was very educated on the subject and pleasantly surprised them with various opinions about the current presence of Syrian refugees in Bulgaria and how we can cope with it. The answer of ACS students was that it is through tolerance and integration that we can hope for a better future.
The day can best be summarized by the appeal of the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon: "On this International Day for Tolerance, I call on all people and governments to actively combat fear, hatred, and extremism with dialogue, understanding, and mutual respect. Let us advance against the forces of division and unite for our shared future."