The Kemper Human Rights Education Foundation (khref.org) is offering prizes of $4000, $2000, and $1000 to high school students judged to have written the best answers to the question below.  There are two contests and two sets of prizes: one for high school students in the U.S. and one for high school students who are citizens and residents of other countries.

Essays will be judged according to how clearly and well they answer the question posed and the extent to which they are supported by research.

Topic:

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulates: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.  Yet António Gueterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, has identified hate speech as a formidable threat to human rights.   Do you agree and if so, how do you think governments should deal with that threat?  If you disagree explain the reason you disagree.

Winners will be announced, and awards presented by the end of January 2025.

We are keen to encourage quality, so suggest writers to check their stories before submitting using Prowritingaid. They have free and paid versions and are the best writing software we know to help improve grammar, readability and check for repetition, ‘sticky’ sentences and suggest alternatives.