PRINTER'S NO. 4043
No. 819 Session of 2008
INTRODUCED BY CONKLIN, WHEATLEY, JOSEPHS, SWANGER, McGEEHAN,
MOYER AND KORTZ, JUNE 25, 2008
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, JUNE 25, 2008
A RESOLUTION
1 Requesting the Department of Education to establish the
2 Genocide, Human Rights and Tolerance Education program for
3 secondary students.
4 WHEREAS, The United States is a member state of the United
5 Nations; and
6 WHEREAS, Article II of the 1948 United Nations Convention on
7 the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines
8 genocide as:
9 any of the following acts committed with intent to
10 destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical,
11 racial or religious group, as such: killing members
12 of the group; causing serious bodily or
13 mental harm to members of the group; deliberately
14 inflicting on the group conditions of life
15 calculated to bring about its physical destruction in
16 whole or in part; imposing
17 measures intended to prevent births within the group;
18 and forcibly transferring children
1 of the group to another group;
2 and
3 WHEREAS, Genocide is universal, with pervading and
4 identifiable themes; and
5 WHEREAS, The House of Representatives recognizes the link
6 between intolerance and genocidal violence; and
7 WHEREAS, National studies indicate that fewer than 25% of
8 students understand the systematic mass killings of various
9 ethnic groups throughout history; and
10 WHEREAS, The House of Representatives reaffirms the
11 importance of teaching respect and tolerance in the schools of
12 this Commonwealth; and
13 WHEREAS, Students must recognize the importance of universal
14 human rights, dignity, respect and tolerance; and
15 WHEREAS, Students must learn the lessons of history,
16 acknowledging genocidal crimes arising from prejudice, bigotry,
17 inhumanity and intolerance and our responsibility as individuals
18 and societies to act against intolerance and genocide; and
19 WHEREAS, The House of Representatives recognizes the
20 imperative for instructional materials and teacher training
21 relating to the Holocaust, genocide, human rights and social
22 tolerance; and
23 WHEREAS, The House of Representatives supports the
24 integration of survivor testimony into instruction on genocide,
25 human rights and tolerance; and
26 WHEREAS, The stories of survivors, rescuers, liberators and
27 witnesses convey the personal and social effects of genocide;
28 therefore be it
29 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives request the
30 Department of Education to establish the Genocide, Human Rights
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1 and Tolerance Education program for secondary students; and be
2 it further
3 RESOLVED, That the Department of Education adopt a model
4 curriculum for secondary students emphasizing the nature and
5 definition of genocide and the progression of genocide, with
6 analysis of its incidence historically and in the present global
7 environment; and be it further
8 RESOLVED, That the model curriculum incorporate, into
9 publications that provide examples of curriculum resources for
10 teacher use, materials developed by public or private publishers
11 of nonfiction, trade books and primary sources; and be it
12 further
13 RESOLVED, That the model curriculum incorporate age-
14 appropriate instructional materials consistent with the subject
15 frameworks on history and social science relative to civil
16 rights, human rights, genocide, slavery and the Holocaust; and
17 be it further
18 RESOLVED, That, recognizing the pervasiveness of genocide and
19 reaffirming the commitment of free nations to deter genocide,
20 the model curriculum incorporate an additional unit of
21 instruction on recent crimes of genocide across the globe; and
22 be it further
23 RESOLVED, That the model curriculum incorporate survivor,
24 rescuer, liberator and witness testimony; and be it further
25 RESOLVED, That the model curriculum incorporate State and
26 local professional development resources; and be it further
27 RESOLVED, That the model curriculum analyze classification of
28 genocide in modern regional conflicts with emphasis on Cambodia
29 in the 1970s, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rwanda in the 1990s and
30 ongoing genocidal conflict in Darfur; and be it further
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1 RESOLVED, That the model curriculum promote a full
2 understanding of the spectrum of human rights violations and
3 related diplomacy and intervention; and be it further
4 RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to
5 the Department of Education.
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