Wednesday, February 16, 2011

The Right to Knowledge... Learn

Everyone should have the Right to Learn.

U.S. civil rights leader, W.E.B. Dubois
wrote in The Souls of Black Folk (1903)
about the importance that learning makes on any individual.  
In the years after the end of U.S. slavery, the African-American
"people strove to learn...
chang[ing] the child of Emancipation to the youth
with dawning self-consciousness, self-realization, self-respect... "

Dubois also stated in 1897,
"Children learn more from what you are than what you teach."


48 comments:

Anonymous said...

Everyone has the right to learn. We learn something new everyday. Learning stimulates interest and boosts confidence in a person. Children learn very quickly as adults lose the ability to pick up new things like music, languages, games, computer programs. Either way learning depends on the person’s situation and the motivation behind learning of a particular thing or subject as well as the enthusiasm he or she has for learning.

Ann Marie

Luz Mery said...

I do agree that everyone has the right to learn regardless of ethnicity or social status. It is also true that how we portray ourselves to our children is what they will learn from other than what we try to preach to them. Children learn from example and what we do with our lives is what they will follow through with their lifes.

Fernanda A said...

Learning is a very crucial part of life. We learn everyday. It's very important to have the right to learn because that's how we evolve in life. Live and learn. You cant go on each day without learning something new. Could be anything. In school or at home. Even if the person doesn't have the money, motivation is all it takes. There's a chance for everyone in this world to partake in the learning process. Like I said before, education in school isn't the only thing we learn in life. Life lessons are also very important.

Anonymous said...

everyone has the right to learn. despite the fact that some countries try and prevent that right to some women and children, in america we do not encounter those types of problems. learning is a must for us.

f.c.

Anonymous said...

The United Negro College Fund tag line says it well, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." Learning is to the mind, what exercise is to the body - it keeps your mind healthy and active, so learning should be a right for everyone. But having the freedom to learn is also key because it allows you access to learning, and allows what you are learning to spark your imagination and motivate you to learn more. Learning helps us understand, communicate, and better ourselves and the world.
Gabe

Unknown said...

The right to learn is undoubtedly the most fundamental. Everyone does have the right to learn because you cant stop someone from applying their own intelligence.

Anonymous said...

Learning is part of the process for a better future. We not only learn in a class room but through life experiences as well. I agree with Dubois in that people strive to learn. We learn to ask questions, develop new theories, introduce a cure and for self-realization. Therefore, we all have the right to learn. –v.p.

Anonymous said...

The right to learn is available to everyone. Everyone learns from what they see and hear. "Children learn more from what you are than what you teach." Children learn from their surroundings. We are the role models for the future. We need to educate ourselves in order to be successful as individuals and a society.

michelle said...

i think Education is everything. without it, we would be dumb. i think children learn from everything- from their surroundings, their teachers, their books, friends, and parents. everyone should have the right to learn because with out knowledge we would be a very uneducated world.

Anonymous said...

I am still educating my self at my age, therefore,
I believe that what was done by the US Government
on creating the GI bill, was the best investment
they with the returning GI of world war II. It created a great society on which we have a good
stable nation.
Ismael DelValle.

cd884 said...

Knowing things is part of life. We all have the right to expand our knowlege in every aspect we can. Our knowlege makes us who we are today. If we didnt have the knowlege we have we would all be blind and careless. Everyone has the write to know.

Anonymous said...

Education is one of the most important things in the world. If we do not learn how can we make our lives easier? The best way to learn if that right was or is taken from you is from each other.

Gaby R.

Espy said...

The right to learn I believe goes hand in hand with the right to make mistakes. Most of our learning experiences comes from making bad decisions. However, learning can occur in other ways as well.

Anonymous said...

The Right To Learn is very important. Without learning, we wouldn't be able to grow both spiritually and educationally. Learning is an essential part of everyone's lives. We wouldn't be who and where we are if this right would have been restricted to us. D. B.

Anonymous said...

Everyone has the right to learn and better themselves; it is a very important part of every human life. Whether we learn from observation or from actions learning is inevitable; our curious minds lead us to want more knowledge and a better understanding of the things around us.
-D. Diaz

RhWim said...

Everyone should have the right to learn. You are born with the right to learn. You learn a lot of things that stays with you through life from the moment you are born. Education should be made available to any human that wants to learn no matter what race, creed or color.

Anonymous said...

Everyone should have the right to learn. Throughout history learning and acquired knowledge has been passed doen to generations (i.e. Einstein, Newton, Freud, etc). Imagine they did not have the right to learn where would we be today? Learning helps us evolve as a people all together. We are one body and everyone has something to give, it is vital we all learn! -- KB

shiv said...

I believe that W.E.B. Dubios has a point when he states that Children learn what you are than what you teach. Children what to be like their parents when they are small, so why not follow their footsteps. And even when they are not being taught good things they sometimes follow that example. Everyone has the right to learn in order to gain knowledge. If you do not learn how can you progress in life. Everything you do, involves learning it first. Learning is the base that helps us grow.

Anonymous said...

Stopping one person from gaining knowledge could change the world. Imagine if a cure for a disease was never found because somebody denied that child an education.

Luisa Isla said...

The right to learn is a key that will unlock many doors.As W.E.B Dubious stated, children do learn more from what you are. If everyone is given the right to learn then this image will influence future generations. Learning is the water that will help our knowledge blossom,and that is why it is so important.

kevin0121 said...

Yes, we do have the right to learn, but learn the good ways of life and gain knowledgable facts and not useless facts.

Miglaude said...

There is large quantity of profit to know about our history. It can facilitate us to remember some of the past .The motivation to learn, it is like you try out new approaches, observe the outcome and to include the feedback into new initiatives. It is important that you have a good understanding of different knowledge.

Mirror said...

Learning is a natural process. People have to do nothing in order to learn something. Every second in life we are exposed to an environment that is teaching us through experience, even though we are not aware of that. Maybe, Dubois used the word learning to refer to the development of the intellect or to the culture education process.
Aimara Ors

Esmeralda A said...

Everyone should have the right to learn. Learning stimulates your brain and expaned your knowlegde. We learn something new everyday. As for our children, they learn what they see and eventhough we do not teach them our bad habits, they pick up quickly our bad habits and they want to do the same. As a parent we need to be very careful with our children and guide them to the right path. We need to set an example for them to follow. EA

Unknown said...

The right to learn is the right to excel in life. We learn something new each and every day. Without the right to learn we may be missing out on our creative side along with the opportunity to try and fail and try again. The right to learn is the right to come into your own skin and be free to learn something new every day.

-Nicole Chaplin-

Anonymous said...

Whether it's an infant or a fifty year old individual, we are always learning something new and sometimes by fault.

Eddie M.

Anonymous said...

This is probably the most important right, though many people don't exercise it, i mean to the extent we could learn, people limit themselves.
JB

Anonymous said...

Learning is an ongoing process which never stops. Curiosity and necessity drive us to learn more everyday. The ability of learning can not be taken away from us. It is up to us as individuals to learn as much as we can. E.S.

Anonymous said...

A good education should be given to all human beings. This helps us as individuals and society as a whole. I also believe what Dubois said children do learn from what we do. We are the example they follow.
Marcia P

Anonymous said...

Education is KEY to success. Without it, a person is already fighting against the chance to be someone in life. Every other thing in society can be stripped from you, but your education cannot. It is the ONLY thing you can have forever...In the U.S. every child has a right to free public education, but once they turn 18 and go to pursue a higher degree, they are restrained depending on their legal status. WHat is that?! We are deterring those who actually want to make something of themselves? There is definitely a problem with this equation and we HAVE TO do something about it. We also need to invest in revamping education. This current generation of students are very technologically oriented but due to the budgets...educational facilities are not equipped to challenge them sufficiently to motivate them to learn. So I ask you...what can we expect of our future?!?

GIL RO

Janet Almonte said...

To examine why learning should be a right, we need to comprehend its meaning. According to Carl Rogers a famous psychologist and theorist, “it is a grasping and comprehending of what a person needs to know and wants to know.” Then why should everyone have the right to learn? Why does this really matter? It does matter because we live in a changing world where new ideas emerge daily. These new issues that arise lead to new solutions needed. This in turn leads to the understanding that the right to learn can help us to grow and develop; hence provide us with deeper meaning with stimulation, motivation and satisfaction in our lives.

Janet

Pedro Leon said...

After blacks were emancipated there was a long road to equality and education was a big issue in the 1960s for black americans. In the past few days President Obama encouraged black females to go to college. I agree that the right to learn is an important issue because people need to learn.P.L

Anonymous said...

Learning is a life long process. In other words this right is fundamental, and should not limit peoples' capacity to do new things or obtain new knowledge.

Ingrid J. said...

Everyone certainly has a right to learn. We should have told that to America in the days of slavery. This is one of the biggest mistakes that this country has ever made. I guess they never expected to free the slaves, forbidding them to read or to be taught to read. Now thank God that we are living in a time where everyone is free to learn, but it is unfortunate that some still don't exercise that right.

Anonymous said...

Education is crucial to the advancement of a person and society and this has become even more evident by the recent uprisings in the Middle East.

The country of Egypt has long been storied as one of the most sacred places on Earth with its magnificant histroy of Pyramids and Nile civilization that thrived over 5,000 years ago. Today Egypt has a population that is over 30% illeterate.

Knowledge and education has to be something that every child and person should have access to readily. THose without proper educarion are destined to never advance and fall behind as others pass them up.

-GP

Anonymous said...

Learning can be confused with education which is something most take for granted. Learning is not through what you're taught, but by what you teach yourself through applied experiences, effort and initiative. That's a right we carry and shouldn't be taken from one. – D.T

Anonymous said...

Everyone has a right to get an education. With an education you can have a career and be in a higher job than average people that didn't/couldn't learn when they were littler. When you learn you have an infinite imagination and you learn new things everyday! So do you ever stop learning?
Laura R.

Anonymous said...

“If we ever think education is expensive… try ignorance” Everybody should have the right to learn and educate themselves. Education is one of the most important keys to a successful society. GS

Anonymous said...

To be inquisitive is human nature. Learning how the world works has helped our species evolve over tens of thousands of years. Without learning we would still be running around naked in the savanna catching food with our bare hands.
-ND-

Anonymous said...

I think everyone has a right to learn. To be honest there is really no stopping it, just the ability to put restrictions to content.

-surfershoes

Lisa said...

An education is important for an individual aswell as the world. There would be no innovation without an education. Knowledge brings out new ideas. lp

Patricia Delgado said...

To be educated is a paramount of importance for each individual. In my opinion no one should suppress this benefit of learning. In some countries of middle east, the woman is not allow to go to school, only men are given this gift of freedom learning.

Anonymous said...

As a child growing up in the Caribbean, my teachers would make say, “Labor for learning before you grow old for learning is better than silver and gold; silver and gold will vanish away but a good education will never decay.” For this reason, I totally agree that learning is a right that should always be preserved. Gary Norris

Rosa F. said...

Everyone has the right to learn, and I don't think anyone, at least in the United States, is being denied that right. The rest is up to the learner and how much effort they're actually going to put into it. --Rosa F.

RV said...

Knowledge is like raw power and it should not be denied, but how we choose to use it is what really matters.

Jenny said...

Everyone has the right to learn, in order to educate themselves. It could be a new word, a new task, a new job, a new life; it is the right to seek the knowledge and development of a new, future individual.

JR

Anonymous said...

Everybody should have the right to learn because it takes away ignorance and fear.
Claudia B.

TrustMeImADoctor said...

Education is the foundation of all great societies, everyone should have the right to learn in order to benefit themselves and help the community they live in become successful. Education has led us out of the dark ages, the hunter gatherer age, and even out of racism.