Alicia Lauersen, a junior high school student from Alberta,
took centre stage at the Newfoundland and Labrador Student Leadership
Conference and shared her experiences in the fight against child
labour.
Lauersen was one of four keynote speakers to address the delegates
during the Rise to the Challenge conference, which attracted
500 students to Booth Memorial High School from October 22 to
24.
Lauersen is the president of the Fort McMurray chapter of
Free the Children, (Check out Katie Norman's
story on the Free the Children campaign.) an organization
concerned with child labour in third world countries. Still only
fourteen years old, she has made presentations to the National
Free the Children Conference in Ottawa, to the Human Rights Conference
in Edmonton, and to the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo
in Alberta.
She has managed to get a by-law passed in this town banning
fireworks and soccer balls made by child labour. One of her many
goals as president of her local chapter is to get premier Ralph
Klein to sign the United
Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child. Alberta is
the only province in Canada not to have signed this document,
the most widely ratified document in the history of the United
Nations.
Lauersen began her speech with tips on how to become a successful
youth leader. She urged the students to take control of their
own futures, learn from their mistakes, don't over-work themselves
and stay grounded.
"Try to create and maintain a balance. It's important
to learn from others - their accomplishments and their mistakes.
And don't be critical of others," said Lauersen.
Secondly, she noted that friends were key to a successful
leader. |