Pictured are :Halewood Safer Schools Police officer Cheryl McKeegan with pupils from Halewood Centre for Learning in the “We Hate Hate” campaign.
The pain caused by prejudice was described in a prize-winning campaign at Halewood Centre for Learning.
Guest speaker Sean Brady told the 12 and 13 year olds that he’d suffered from cancer and mental illness in his life.
He said he’d received lots of sympathy for his battle with cancer but very little for his struggles with mental illness.
The lack of understanding of what’s different or unknown was at the heart of the “We Hate Hate” programme at the centre.
The six week scheme is organised by Cheryl McKeegan, the Safer Schools Police officer in the Halewood area.
Over the weeks, the Year 8 pupils looked at issues such as race, religion, disability and the psychology of hate.
Speakers like Sean described how they’d been victims of prejudice and what the consequences had been.
At the end, the pupils were asked to do a presentation about what they’d learned, using poetry, powerpoints and plays
Prizes were given for the best - joint winners were Form 8CWO, for their presentation on race and Form 8SLO, for theirs on disability.
They were given a plaque by Cllr Hogg and they’ve been offered tours of Everton and Liverpool’s football grounds.
Cheryl McKeegan said: “They all wanted to take turns holding the plaque - they were so proud of what they’d done.
“It really was a great event. The children were lovely, they really got involved.”
This is the second year the “We Hate Hate” project has run at Halewood Centre for Learning and the organisers are impressed with the results.
“Understanding why people hate what’s different helps us to tackle Hate crime,” said Cllr Jackie Harris, Knowsley’s cabinet member for Community Safety and Social Inclusion.
“Fear and misunderstanding is at the root of most prejudice. Projects like this tell the human stories behind it and hopefully change attitudes.”
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