A message from the Tompkins County Human Rights Commission on Youth Human Rights Materials

Thursday, October 29, 2026 

The Human Rights Commission has read, with care and concern, the accounts from Cayuga Heights Elementary families about a human rights video shown to third-grade students. Parents are right to expect that what their children see in school is age-appropriate and drawn from well-vetted sources, and they are right to ask questions when it is not.

About six years ago, the Commission also accepted free educational materials from the organization called Youth for Human Rights International explaining the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to different categories of young people. We shared them with school administrative offices for consideration for two levels only, grades 5/6 and grades 10 and above. They were never intended nor recommended for third graders, nor distributed to them. 

When we accepted the materials, we did not know, and were not informed, that Youth for Human Rights International received any funding from the Church of Scientology. That connection was not apparent on the materials, nor in the conversations we held with Youth for Human Rights International, and we did not look closely enough. The Commission does not promote any religious organization, and we would not knowingly have used materials from a religiously sponsored group with children.

At the time, the Commission invited a small group of parents and their children to review the materials and provide feedback and suggestions. Based on their excellent suggestions for better images and requests for illustrative stories emerging from within our community, we decided not to distribute anything further from the organization, and we have not done so in the many years since. Going forward, we will be much more thorough in investigating the materials given to us.

Teaching young people about human rights means telling the truth about human suffering. That work matters. We hope that the work of teaching human rights to young people will not be ignored. But it has to be done with materials that are right for each age, from sources families can trust, and with care for how children receive it.  

The Commission is a non-partisan body of community members who volunteer their time to uphold the dignity and rights of every resident. We invite you to join us in identifying and addressing the challenges that affect our neighbors, from poverty and housing insecurity to barriers in accessing healthcare. Together, we build a community where everyone can thrive.

The Tompkins County Human Rights Commission