Two Kilkenny teenagers have joined together to start a campaign advocating against racism, homophobia and other forms of intolerance called Teaching Tolerance.

At the centre of their movement is a petition which they are hoping to bring to the Government. The petition is calling for racism to be taught about in Irish schools.

The petition reads:

“We are two Irish teenagers. One an ally and is very supportive of anti-racism and BLM movement, the other a Nigerian-Irish POC who just wants for everyone to be treated equally.

“Ireland is a friendly, welcome, kind and accepting place. We’ve seen this with things like the LGBTQ acceptance, the integrations of different faiths in schools and in our daily lives. But for some people(including us)we aren’t quite there yet.

“Racism is something that is not only not talked about in our country but is the basis of thousands of people across the country’s discrimination, bullying and violence. This is not okay at all. As a country who was seemingly so accepting to other races and culture coming into Ireland, it is truly hard to believe that we have neglected to teach about the history of racism, privilege and how it affects media in schools to children.

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“It is something we must change, and we need you to help us. We are the future and in a way, we feel cheated that we were never taught all these things and had to make the mistakes that never should have been made ourselves.

“So let’s make a change.

“After we reach our goal of signatures, we will be sending a letter to the Ministry of Education along with a template of how this would be taught. We want to make this generation the first to be fully anti-racism. We urge you to rise up for this good cause and support us. Where the parents lack, the youth must not.”

Sign Teach Tolerance Ireland’s petition here and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.