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For the past couple of weeks, I have been an intern at the OJEN offices in downtown Toronto. This was my first ever work experience and in the days prior to me working here were what I can only describe as a mixture of anxiousness and excitement. I was worried about how the general atmosphere […]
Read moreI have been working with OJEN remotely from Thunder Bay for a little less than eight weeks as a summer student. I haven’t had the opportunity yet to work with youth and see firsthand the impact OJEN’s programs can have on them, so this blog post will be a little bit different with a focus […]
This is a guest post, written by a placement student from Justice Studies at the University of Guelph-Humber. It has been shared with permission. What an experience it has been to be apart of the OJEN team this year! As a placement student, working with OJEN has opened my eyes to a lot of things […]
When is the last time you played? I’m not talking about playing basketball or a board game or some game on your phone. I mean really played, and let go of everything! Like when you were a kid. It seems like once we hit our teen years, we stop playing games and being silly. Games […]
As my third and possibly final summer working with OJEN in Hamilton comes to a close, I am forced to reflect upon my time with OJEN and how it has come to change my life. Interestingly, I became involved with OJEN while in grade eleven, when I participated in a mock trial run by the […]
I’ve been in this justice education game for a while now. I’ve participated in programming for thousands of students, in classrooms, courthouse and communities. While developing this wealth of experience I’ve frequently contemplated the question of whether feedback or evaluation given by justice sector volunteers (“JSVs” -lawyers, judges and justices of the peace) is appropriate […]
I used to teach sociology to university students, and one of the things that I liked best about it was the chance to get them to think about really deep connections between social institutions and the cultural values from which they develop. I have done it with secondary students too. With so many of them […]
Recently, I facilitated the culminating session of a six week, advocacy-based program with the residents of Humewood House Sheppard, a resource centre for young pregnant and parenting women. In this program, we worked towards applying some of the skills that professional advocates use, in order to challenge negative stereotypes and public perceptions of young mothers. […]
At the core of most legal issues is an unresolved conflict. Indeed, conflict is an inevitable outcome of living and working with others, and whether or not it results in legal action, it affects everyone’s life at one level or other. This is true whether one is 7 or 97 years old. Within the scope […]
This video features youth from several GTA neighbourhoods discussing their views on how the justice system impacts their own lives and their communities. It also includes photographs taken in an OJEN/ROEJ project with Toronto Community Housing – Youth Safety Ambassadors. Funding for the video has been provided through the Vital Ideas Fund at the Toronto […]
Aarika Heath practices criminal law in Brampton, Ontario but her first experience in a court room took place nine years ago as a student representing Brampton Centennial Secondary School in the Peel Region Mock Trial Tournament. Although, at the time she was already passionate about law, she had never set foot inside a court room […]