Justice on his mind

BY MARC LALONDE

marc.lalonde@transcontinental.ca

Who said writing doesn’t pay?

You’d have a hard time telling that to Lindsay Place High School Grade 10 student Brett Perlman.

The Dollard des Ormeaux resident was honoured last week by the Bar of Montreal for his essay in the Write for Justice essay contest, which asks students to contribute their thoughts on justice in any of its forms. Perlman received a $200 cash prize, some computer software, and passes to La Ronde.

Perlman’s essay came in the form of a class assignment from history teacher Catherine Falmagne, and in the two-page essay, he argued that over-secularization of public schools may be robbing youngsters of the opportunity to learn more about other religions, thereby damning them to a life of prejudice.

‘This entire problem narrows down into three words: respect, tolerance and prejudice... prejudice usually stems from what people perceive as a threat, either real or implied, which is in turn caused by a lack of education about other cultures and religions,’ he wrote.

Perlman said in an interview last week that his life’s ambition isn’t to be a lawyer, but rather, a writer.

He’s off to a good start. He explained that he put both sides of the argument into the essay in an effort to balance the debate.

“I tried to show how both sides could believe that they are right and I sought to find a balance between secularism and religious iconography,” he said, adding the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedom of religion for all Canadians.

Falmagne said the class had studied the justice system in MRE segments during the year.

“We had a judge come in and talk to the class about justice and how the system worked, and we studied it quite a bit,” she said, prompting her interest in the Montreal Bar essay contest. Perlman, a “very bright,” student, Falmagne said, was “thrilled” when told he had won the contest, which was based on the student’s ability to stay faithful to the theme, spelling, grammar, vocabulary, personal analysis and originality.

Perlman was presented with his Write For Justice award last Thursday at Complexe Desjardins in Montreal.