The Wear Your Cause On Your Sleeve (WYCOYS) campaign will be held on the week of April
26-30. It is committed to educating, promoting awareness and encouraging discussion about
issues our world faces today.
The campaign will dedicate one day for each cause: Animal Cruelty, Access to Clean Water,
Racial & Religious Discrimination, World Hunger and Mental Health.
The main platform for this campaign is a website, which will share information and discussion
questions for each day. We encourage every classroom teacher to have access to the website and
take 5-10 minutes of their class time to go over the information and allow students to participate.
If that is not possible, we encourage teachers to share the website link with their students and
remind them of the initiative.
Link to the website (it will be updated nightly prior to the next day’s cause):
https://sites.google.com/my.ctk.ca/wycoys/home
We have also prepared daily announcements that can introduce the day’s cause and serve as
another reminder for schools to participate.
Day 1:
Animal Cruelty
Good Morning! Today is the first day of the HCDSB Student Senate’s
Wear Your Cause on Your Sleeve Campaign.
This is an initiative committed to educating, promoting awareness and
encouraging discussion about issues our world faces today.
We are starting off with a very important cause- animal cruelty. Animal
cruelty encompasses a range of behaviors harmful to animals such as
staged animal fights, puppy mills, harmful animal testings, intensive
farming, marine parks, and intentional cruelty. Every year, more than 10
million animals die from abuse in the US alone. Like in many countries,
animal abuse is illegal. In Canada, several laws are in place to prevent it,
but it can be hard to detect.
All teachers should have a link to the website where you can learn more
and have enriching discussions about this topic. You can also find the
link on the HCDSB Student Senate Instagram.
We hope that you enjoy the week to come.
Day 2:
Access to Clean
Water
Your Student Senate would like to introduce the second cause to the
Wear Your Cause On Your Sleeve campaign.
A limited supply of clean water causes the deaths of 3.575 million people annually. 785 million people around the world do not have access
to clean water, and over 17 million women and girls in Africa collect
water everyday, which increases their risk of disease & assault.
To raise awareness and show support to those in these harsh living
conditions, check out the campaign’s website!
Day 3:
Racial & Religious
Discrimination
The HCDSB Student Senate would like to introduce the third cause of
the Wear Your Cause On Your Sleeve campaign: Racial and Religious
Discrimination.
Discrimination is the unfair or prejudicial treatment of people and
groups based on characteristics such as race, religion, etc. Racial and
religious discrimination affects many people and makes it difficult for
them to live and thrive in their environment. In 2017, “43% of hate
crimes were motivated by hatred of a race or ethnicity.” In the same year,
the police reported 842 cases of religious-motivated hate crimes, and as
of right now, “racialized Canadians earn an average of 81 cents to the
dollar compared to other Canadians.” These statistics make it evident
that this matter is very serious and persists in the society that we live in
today.
Therefore we encourage you to visit the campaign’s website to learn
more about these issues and raise awareness about racial and religious
discrimination.
Day 4:
World Hunger
Good Morning Everyone! Today is Day 4 of the Wear Your Cause on
Your Sleeve Campaign.
Today’s cause is one that is talked about a lot, more predominantly than
others but is still growing and exists in our world today.
How many people do you think are hungry in the world right at this
moment? Globally, about 8.9% of the world’s population — 690 million
people — go to bed on an empty stomach each night. Since 2014, the
number of people affected by hunger has been slowly on the rise. If it
continues at this rate, it’ll exceed 840 million by 2030.The hunger
Sustainable Development Goal calls for ending hunger in the world by
- Unfortunately — with world hunger on the rise — this goal will
likely not be met, even without considering the effects of COVID-19.
Estimates suggest that an additional 83 million to 132 million more
people will be chronically hungry due to the pandemic. These statistics
are real and terrifying to think about so what can we do? You made the
first step by supporting the cause today but even searching and becoming
educated today can help you make better and more sustainable choicesfor the rest of your life!
Day 5:
Mental Health
Good morning everyone! Today is the final day of the Wear Your Cause
On Your Sleeve awareness campaign. We hope you enjoyed learning and
discussing these important causes throughout the week.
This last cause is something that affects many individuals, no matter
what age. According to Children’s Mental Health Ontario, “as many as 1
in 5 children and youth in Ontario will experience some form of mental
health problem”.
Taking care of your mental wellbeing is extremely important to improve
creativity, learning, and self-esteem.
We encourage you to learn more about Mental Health on the campaign’s
website.
Thank you.
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us:
Kimberly.DeOliveira.229@my.ctk.ca
Sophie.Preisig.884@my.ctk.ca