Student of SVIS witnessed the Commonwealth Class: Finale Event live from Glassgow held on July 24, 2014 wherein Join Chloe Tilley and John Beattie found out what young people think of the Commonwealth in a special recording of BBC World Service's World Have Your Say. As part of BBC Learning's Commonwealth Class, children from across the Commonwealth were invited to have their say about what it means to be a global citizen.
Here are the musings of our students who came up with their own new ideas about global citizenship…..
Kirti Bhagat of Class XB said : "Be the change that you wish to see in the world", a well said quote by Mahatma Gandhi is like a perfect definition to the word "Global Citizen”. Global citizens are those citizens who act! As we all know that actions speak louder than words, it is the global citizens who make their mark on history like Mother Teresa and countless NGOs. Being a global citizen is all about going in the right direction by valuing others and by opposing any kind of segregation. Anything and everything that happens around the world affects us positively as well as negatively. We won FIFA world with Germany, felt their jubilation of being the winners and the same heartbeat felt the pain of those 298 passengers who went lost their lives with Malaysian aircraft. We are capable of resisting, reacting, repeating and speaking. We know our part; we just have to act on it by endeavoring to be a true global citizen, who is effected by everything that is going around the world.
According to Divyajot Kaur Dadiala, student of Class VIIB, "A Global Citizen is someone who thinks and believes that the entire world is one and his own home. He is a citizen who wants to live in a peaceful world without any wars and I think sport is area which can bring people from across the world together and make them true Global Citizens".
Devanshee Sharma of Class IX A believes, “We are all global citizens. It means we are one. While this citizenship is a birthright, we do have the choice of being contributing global citizens who revel in diversity and seek solutions to the challenges facing our planet or being passive ones who allow others to provide the answers for us. Today the forces of global engagement are helping some people identify themselves as global citizens who have a sense of belonging to a world community. A true global citizen possesses a wide view of the world and the part he or she plays in it. Global citizenship is a way of living that is entrepreneurial and tech-savvy, involves taking risks and encourages critical thinking. Global citizenship is basically thinking and looking beyond the political and geographical boundaries and ideally starts with a very young age. It is forgetting that you belong to one different community, but rather embracing the cultures from all the communities and understanding their worldly scenario. A true global citizen will always have a sense of pride and joy but at the same time will be more concerned and active in all the global affairs. Our generation is quite fortunate that we are being brought up in such a manner that we are open to all the new ideas and embrace every idea with an open mind. We all know that problems around might not be similar but common, and yet the solution to all these problems will remain to be similar. A true global citizen will always be able to relate himself/herself with the world and will also think about the world with himself/herself as he/she would be able to identify and relate to all the problems and challenges that every working citizen has to face. Undoubtedly being a global citizen it is every person’s responsibility to act, make this world a better place and of course prepare ourselves for any challenges that lie ahead or any economic crisis. Thus, being a global citizen definitely means a lot but acting like one is a good way to safeguard the diverse cultures and the future of the world and definitely we cannot turn a blind eye towards any of the problems in the world.”
Vaibhav Gupta of Class VIIIC feels, “The term 'global citizen' refers to being a citizen of the world. Therefore, we shall be respectful, polite, careful, helpful and much more to others living on this world. A global citizen should not differentiate or consider inequality between the men or women. They should consider them as of their own kind, i.e. human, and treat them equally. Though everyone is a 'global citizen' but those who really call themselves so should really prove it by any means necessary. A real global citizen should lead the world, telling them the right path to a brighter side and success. I would like to conclude this topic by telling you all that, that 'global' citizen means to be a person who places his/her identity with global community!
According to Riya Jaggi of Class IXA, “Almighty send man on Earth to spread love, brotherhood, compassion and peace. However, man possessed by the devil of jealousy, hatred and arrogance has created boundaries on the earth and has forgotten his purpose. The time has come to revert back on the path of righteousness. Already science and technology has made our world compact and without a doubt connected various communities, small or big, with each other. Now, all we need to do is imbibe the quality of a global citizen.
A global citizen is someone who is a part of an upcoming world community and his/her actions contribute to the welfare and the progress of that community. As a global citizen, we need to have concern and a share of responsibility of not only what's happening in our country, but also of the planet as a whole. We need to act more humanly and advocate for the human rights, environmental protection and worldwide economic growth. We need to adopt the good, positive and reason from other culture while eradicate the evil form ours. If everyone understands the true meaning of global citizen then conflicts between countries can be avoided and peace, harmony along with prosperity can be promised.”
Astha Suri of Class VIIIA revealed, “Global citizenship, to me means being mindful of the fact that we all live on the same planet and that our actions can have an impact on people in other parts of the world. Global citizenship is the concept of citizenship on a global level. A ‘Global Citizen’ is one who takes into consideration the world as a whole rather than just the immediate world in which one functions. It is a disposition which guides the understanding of individual or groups of local and global context. We should take responsibilities with different communities. We should talk of living as Global citizens. For instance, we do not have the rights to pollute the air or water that we share with others.”
Pratishtha Pandey of Class VIIIB disclosed her views saying, “As a global citizen, I should know that whatever I do leaves an impact on people all around the globe. It doesn't mean that I belong to a particular country, it does not mean that whatever I do will benefit only my country, and rather it will be taken as a good thing ........or a bad thing all over the world. For instance, if we pollute land, water or air shared by the whole world it will not only do badly for our country but all the countries across the globe.”
Mayank Bharadwaj of Class VIIC said, “A global citizen is someone who identifies with being part of an emerging world community and whose actions contribute to building this community’s values and practices. We all are human beings but only few understand how to be a human. To be a global citizen is not only about being human, it’s about being a human living for others. Many of us think that there are many people who would contribute to others life and we will enjoy it. Unfortunately, India is such a country. India has many practices and rituals but many of them are discriminating to our society and also they tell us our differences. We should all be part in making our country and even the world a better place to live and the work does not start from politics, it starts from our understanding to be a global citizen.”
As reported by Sri VIS Correspondent