Essay Contest on Human Rights
The Dignity Forum is a charitable organization devoted to the advancement of human rights in Alberta. Its origins stem from two concerning observations about the fabric of Albertan society today. The founders of Dignity Forum share a deep concern for the increase in discrimination and prejudice faced by racialized groups in Alberta. Together, they are working toward rebuilding the legislative and societal commitment to further human rights protections and advance the objectives and vision outlined in the Alberta Human Rights Act. Dignity forum is concerned that there has been, and continues to be, an alarming growth in the incidence of overt intolerance, harassment, and discrimination of Alberta’s racialized communities. For these reasons, Dignity Forum was created to combat these systemic issues through advocacy and education.
From the belief that advocacy and education are essential building blocks to a stronger society, Dignity Forum, in association with the Ron and Myrna Ghitter Foundation, is happy to introduce the inaugural Dignity Forum Essay Contest on Human Rights.
The Dignity Forum Essay Contest on Human Rights invites Alberta high school students enrolled in the 2025/2026 school year to write a 1200 to 1500-word essay on one of the two topics provided below and submit it by the contest deadline of June 30, 2026.
Contest participants are encouraged to view the Dignity Forum documentary “Human Rights: Our Responsibility,” available here, as a launching pad for the essay contest. In addition to writing their essay, participants will be asked to respond to the following short answer question: “What is the future of human rights in Alberta?” Answers will be limited to 250 words.
The winner will receive:
An all-expense paid trip to the Canadian Human Rights Museum for themselves, a family member, and an influential teacher of their choice.
The contest is open between April 17 - June 30, 2026
Essay Topic Considerations:
When thinking about these two questions, consider the following:
The phrasing of the essay as a “to what extent” question allows you to develop a position from a wide range of possible answers.
You may fully agree with the subject of the question.
You may fully disagree with the subject of the question.
You may develop a more nuanced position that presents qualifications and parameters to your position.
Ask yourself the following:
For question one, are social movements the most important driving force, or just one of many, or not important at all?
For question two, are there limits on existing human rights legislation, or are they unrestricted? Is enforcement limited, or is it easy to protect and defend human rights legislation? Is legislation always the right way to protect human rights? Should human rights be protected by more than just legislation, such as through culture, education, community, etc.?
In support of your /this position, you will need to develop clear argumentation.
Consider what reasons you hold the position you do.
Clearly identify these reasons. They are your key points.
As you develop your discussion, think about what specific and relevant evidence you can use to illustrate the points you are making in your argument.
If writing on the first question, consider a variety of potential social movements from history and/or contemporary contexts that might serve your argumentation best.
If writing on the second question, consider examples of limitations to human rights from historical and/or contemporary contexts that might serve your argumentation best.
Keep your use of examples focused on specific, relevant, and factually accurate pieces of information. Avoid the use of extraneous information.
Ensure you use reputable sources from your classroom studies and/or additional research using academic or peer-reviewed articles. News media from journalistically accredited and sound sources is acceptable.
Eligibility:
This contest is open to all high school students in Alberta. Eligible students are defined as someone who attends school in the 2025/2026 school year.
Essay Requirements:
Essays must be between 1,200-1,500 words, not including references.
References must be made in the APA, 7th Edition format.
Evidence must be from reputable sources, such as academic and peer reviewed articles, primary sources, and reputable media sources. Students must demonstrate through their selection of sources the ability to critically analyze the integrity of the information available on the subject of Human Rights.
All essays must include a cover page with the name of the author, email, grade, school information including name, address, and phone number.
More information can be found in Essay Contest Rules and Policies.
Essay Submission Deadline:
Essays are due June 30th 2026 at 11:59 PM
Winners will be announced in the Fall of 2026
Submissions should be made through this form.
Submission Form:
Essay Contest Rules and Policies:
The use of A.I. in the Contest
Dignity Forum is seeking to highlight and platform the original ideas, thoughts, and words of high school students. While we acknowledge that artificial intelligence tools are developing into a powerful tool for content generation and writing support, the use of this tool is counter to the principles of the Dignity Forum Essay Contest on Human Rights.
Because of this, please note that contest rules now explicitly state that each essay entry must be entirely original and written directly by the student contestant, with minimal guidance from others, including teachers, parents and artificial intelligence tools. Any essays that are found to be plagiarized or written by AI, in whole or in part, will be disqualified and removed from consideration.
Essay Contest Rules
Official rules
Section I – General Contest Rules
All entries must address to the official contest topic throughout their entry.
Essays must be typed, double-spaced and written in English.
Contestants must enter through Dignity Forum’s submission and submit the essay file as a Word (.docx) document.
Essays that are deemed to be written in part, or in whole, by A.I. tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Notebook LM, and others A.I. services will be disqualified from the contest. No notice will be provided to the contestant during the judging process.
Essays that are found to contain plagiarism, in part or in whole, will be disqualified from the contest without notice.
Essays must be between 1,200 and 1,500 words, not include references or title page.
References must be made in the APA, 7th Edition format.
Evidence must be from reputable sources, such as academic and peer reviewed articles, primary sources, and reputable media sources. Students must demonstrate through their selection of sources the ability to critically analyze the integrity of the information available on the subject of human rights.
All essays must include a cover page with the name of the author, email, grade, school information including name, address, and phone number.
If you reference any external sources, directly or indirectly, a bibliography and/or footnotes are required.
Dignity Forum reserves the right to publish the winning essay and the runners up on its platforms and digital distributions.
Section II – Judging and Timing
Judging will be conducted via a Dignity Forum Panel of assessors.
Judges will not discuss or compare essays being judged until all essays have been scored.
Judges that suspect the use of A.I. or plagiarism will flag the essay to be reviewed by a second assessor to confirm plagiarism or use of A.I. prior to informing the rest of the panel.
Section III – Scoring of Contest
The following areas will form the foundations of the scoring rubric:
Topic Analysis (Logical, well-informed, evidence-based analysis of topic)
Originality & Voice (Fresh insight, nuanced perspective, developed ideas)
Use of Language (Strong vocabulary, style, phrasing, clarity, tone, word choice)
Structure (Clear formatting, organization, flow, continuity)
Mechanics (Excellent grammar, punctuation, spelling