ADVOCACY
Year 9 were asked to conduct an advocacy project on an issue of their choice , focusing on an important social or political problem , selecting a medium through which to take action , and presenting to the rest of the class .
A vast range of topics was covered by different groups , one of my personal favourites being China ’ s internment camps , by Alex Vuilleumier , Ella Lockhart and Seraphina Western , which displayed important information on the detainment of Uyghur Muslims in China . I also enjoyed a project around deforestation by Jocelyn Li , Simran Vara , Lucia Tilley and Tracy Wang , which highlighted the issue of mass destruction of the home of many animals and plants , with entertaining yet informative visuals . Maya Goodrich ’ s advocacy project also stood out ; she focused on the gender inequality in football , raising awareness by conducting a live interview with a professional female football player . Another impressive campaign was on fake news , by Zach Pereira , Krish Misra , Sam Tansley and Tom Bulley – an issue highly relevant to present times , yet seemingly under-recognised . This was researched thoroughly and presented informatively with thoughtprovoking graphics and statistics .
The topic my group chose to address was the increasing regression of societal standards to traditional and oppressive gender roles for females due to Covid . We felt that this issue was not receiving nearly enough attention from the media , considering its severity . My mother , for example , has had to juggle a part-time job , a university degree and taking care of three children , with limited availability from my father due to his full-time job . Due to the pandemic , the whole family has had to stay at home for concentrated periods of time , remote learning and working . This has meant that my mum has had to monitor three children and almost fully school one , while doing almost double the cooking and cleaning .
This is the case for many families , no matter the financial situation . Women are also almost twice as likely to quit their jobs due to the existing pay gap and having to prioritise childcare . This means that it is usually the man who is employed and the woman who runs the household and does childcare .
In order to tackle this issue , we wrote a letter to Laura Trott , the local MP , to raise awareness of this subject . We also designed an eye-catching poster , visually depicting the shocking regression in gender roles since the pandemic , to catch people ’ s attention and hopefully spark interest in the issue .
I ’ m thankful to have done this project , as I ’ ve learned a lot about this specific topic as well as many others that my peers have presented , and it has helped me understand that I am able to campaign for what I believe in .
Matilda Grimes , Year 9
SEVENOAKS SCHOOL 2020-2021 81