Canadian Arts and Entertainment

This weeks Blog discussion has two parts:

Part A: The 1920's say the coming of age of Canadian artists with the Group of Seven gaining international recognition for their images of the rugged Canadian landscapes. Since this time Canadian artists, musicians, writers and performers of all types have continued to gain international recognition for their work. Today Canadians such as The Tragically Hip, Mike Myers, Leonard Cohen and Jim Carrey are household names throughout the world for their work in the arts and entertainment industries.

Who is your favorite Canadian artist (this includes musicians, actors etc) and how do you think their work gives Canadians a sense of national pride?

Part B: The twenties in Canada saw an upswing in the economy that meant Canadians were searching for was to spend their "extra" money and fill their leisure time. As a result the 1920's gave birth to a number of "fads" that became wildly popular only to pretty much disappear in a few short years. Take a look at the following video to get a better sense of 20's entertainment.
The Flappers
The Jazz Age

What types of popular activities today do you think may turn out to be just "fads. Personally, while they called the 1920's the Roaring Twenties, I think they may end up calling the 2000's the iPod 2000's.

Do not forget to finish your post with your initials and the period of your socials class or else I cannot give your credit for your response.

Rights of the Child

Read pages 309 - 312 of your Counterpoints textbook discussing Children's Rights.

What year did the United Nations adopt the Convention on the Rights of the Child? Why do you think this convention has become the most universally accepted human rights document?

Visit http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/k2crc.htm and read through the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Why do we need a separate this document when we already have the Unversal Declaration of Human Rights (Counterpoints p. 295)?

Check out some of these photo essays http://www.hrw.org/doc/?t=photoessays

In May 2002, two Optional Protocols were adopted to strengthen the existing provisions within the Convention. These protocols included new guidelines on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and new guidelines on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

New protocol on armed conflict: The Convention states that no child under fifteen years of age should participate in armed conflict; the new protocol raises this age to eighteen. Currently, over 300,000 children worldwide are engaged in armed conflict.

New protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography: This protocol gives special emphasis to the criminalization of serious violations of children's rights - namely sale of children, illegal adoption, child prostitution and pornography. Similarly, the protocol seeks increased international cooperation, public awareness, and education campaigns in order to better protect children from the violations of these rights. Currently, an estimated 1 million children are employed in the commercial sex-trade.

What do you think is the most important issue facing children around the world today? Where do you think the United Nations should center its focus in coming years? What kind of steps should be taken to combat this problem?

Visit http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/crp/index.htm to see more information on child soldiers.