The kids get it

A few weeks ago, I was invited by a teacher of a group of grade one students to visit their class. She wanted me to visit them because of my ongoing court case against the Canadian Government where I am suing them over their inaccessible websites. The kids have been following my case in the newspapers and were eager to ask me questions and to tell me about the letter that they had written to our Prime Minister.

Without any hesitation I agreed and on a cool, early November morning I stood beside their teacher in their Welcome Circle and listened with great admiration as they sang “O Canada.”

Their tiny voices were strong and true and their attention to detail extremely fervent.
Shannon Green, their teacher, introduced me and told them that I had come for a visit. We then trooped upstairs to their classroom and for the next half hour I sat among them and fielded their questions, shared a snack with them and felt their artwork.

What a most moving and humbling experience for me! The kids absolutely got it! Their questions were right on and I was amazed at their grasp of the subject matter. They were most concerned that Blind Canadians were not able to access governmental websites and they even asked me about the access technology software that I used. They were concerned about social justice and their little minds understood it all!

Out of the mouths of babes! These kids are our future! Our messengers! Our promises of hope! Our future legislators and politicians and as I continue to say, “We need to protect the future of our kids”!

I will never forget this experience and I thank Shannon and Velvet for having afforded me this experience. I thank the grade one kids of Grove Community School for having stepped up to the plate.

I’m Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day. To learn more about my court case against the Canadian Government, please visit www.bakerlaw.ca.