The Amnesty International Group at Leighton Park embody the school’s Quaker values of respect, equality and integrity with their focus on human rights and political and social injustice. They meet weekly to plan their awareness raising campaigns and to discuss topical issues.
On Tuesday 10th October the group staged a silent protest on the path to Oakview restaurant during lunch break, capturing the attention of the majority of our student and staff. The protest was undertaken in support of the Council of Europe, United Nations and Amnesty International’s annual awareness action, European and Worldwide Day Against the Death Penalty, and it has taken place on 10th October since 2007.
LP’s Amnesty group co-ordinator and Head of Beliefs, Religious Studies & Values, Stephen Taynton, commented, “A silent process brings awareness to the number of countries that still have the death penalty and it is something that we can do here to help raise awareness in our community. There are about 53 that still have the death penalty including major countries like the United States, China, Saudi Arabia and Japan, who still have it as a means of punishment.”
Lilia (Upper Sixth) reflected, “Stephen suggested the silent protest as it is still an urgent issue which has not been dealt with in the past and we all think it should be abolished since t is a horrible thing and no one should just be executed for their wrongdoings there are other things that we could do; that’s why we have the law. We wanted to spread awareness throughout the school by doing this protest.”
Take the next step by selecting an option below, or if you want to drop us a quick message, you can do so with the form.
Δ