Focus on young people

It has happened to me, after giving a presentation on the Humanity Index, that someone asks me this question: “So, in the end, you want to change the world, Mr. Côté?” I thought about it for a few seconds before answering. “No. The Humanity Index alone will not change the world, but it can definitely help increase our sensitivity and attract, in its wake, influential people who will champion humanistic values.”

It never occurred to me at the time to answer that if we truly want to “change the world,” we must first start with those who will shape our humanity 10, 20 or 30 years from now. Young people. It is considerably easier to develop humanistic instincts in a 15-year-old than in an adult who is 35 or 55, whether we like it or not.

That is precisely why we are currently launching the Being Human in High School project. Inspired by the test already available for adults, we have adapted it to the reality of secondary school students.

Short (three minutes), simple and modern, the test asks young people to assess 15 behaviours they encounter on a daily basis at school. They must indicate whether they are acting appropriately or whether they could do better. In addition, they are asked to assess their attitude, their sense of safety, as well as the social climate of their school. As soon as they complete the test, they receive an assessment with comparisons based on their profile.

The school, for its part, receives the results for the student population as a whole, but also broken down by segment: grade level (Secondary 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5), gender, program, and even individual class.

From there, the dialogue can begin, and targeted actions can be developed around behaviours that receive lower scores. Change can take place.

Being Human was made possible thanks to our crowdfunding campaign, which raised $60,000, including $25,000 from the Mille et Un Fund of the Québec Secretariat for Youth.

We will not change the world by sitting with our arms crossed in front of a screen, criticizing everything that happens without ever lifting a finger to make things better. We will change the world one step at a time, but all together, by multiplying initiatives of this kind.

That is what we are doing at the Humanity Index.