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Is school equipping you
to deal with the complex social
issues you will confront as an adult?
In our school curriculum there are various subjects, such as Human Rights and History of Religion, during which we learn that all people are different but also equal, that one must be tolerant of other cultures, that each culture is unique, and that we have to respect other cultures. We need to understand that people think differently, and if another person thinks differently it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t communicate with him.
During our school classes, we have learned that we have various rights and responsibilities. We learn what kinds of rights we have; that all people have equal rights regardless of religion, age, or race; and that we have to know our rights in order to respect the rights of others. But together with the rights, we also have responsibilities, towards our country and our parents, and we are obligated to fulfill our responsibilities.
Studying history helps us learn that there has always been conflict between rich and poor people, and there has always been a need for a middle class. As for studying human rights, as I mentioned, all are equal regardless of the amount of money they have. Personally, I behave in such a way that I have friends who are rich and friends who are poor. I try not to spend more time with those who are rich, because I prefer middle-income people.
In our school we have several traditions concerning protection of our environment. Twice a year (in the fall and the spring) all the kids in our school are involved in tree planting near our school. We also have an agreement in our class that every Saturday one group should clean the classroom. Every three weeks the school kids clean up around the school, and everybody knows that this is so we can study in a clean school. This system makes us responsible for our own environment; it helps us to respect our work and to avoid making a mess. And this has also helped me to grow up with the sense that I should always be responsible for my own surroundings, a notion that will stay with me for my whole life.
As for our attitude towards the pervasive media… There are no special courses on that in our school, but our lead teacher (each class has its own lead teacher) usually discusses a lot of TV programs with us. For example, there was a program on TV about a certain court case that we discussed during our class— whether the judgment of the court was the right one, and was the accused person really guilty or not? This type of activity helps us develop our critical thinking skills, and we learn how to analyze situations, because the same thing might happen to any of us in future. After that program, our teacher also invited a policeman to talk with us about our rights, for example how we should behave if we are taken to the police station, and what kinds of rights we have in different situations. I learned a lot from these classes, and now feel that I am ready for adult life. All these skills were given to me by our school, by our teachers, and of course by my parents.
This year I was chosen for the Future Leaders Exchange Program (funded by the Freedom Support Act of the United States Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs). I will leave for the United States August 21, 2007 and will stay there for one year, continuing my last year of high school there. I am sure that thanks to the lectures and discussions we had in our school, I am now ready to live in another country for a year, to live with a host family, respect their culture, and be responsible for my behavior.
14, Reynolds High School, Victoria, BC, Canada.
From my point of view [as an Iranian immigrant to Canada], school barely talks about different cultures, racism, and indigenous peoples’ issues. When they do talk about these things, they talk about them only in the past tense. They never speak about how the issues are still here in the present. They stick to textbook material, and not social concerns relevant to the life of the community, such as issues around diversity, refugee displacement, and racism. Sometimes they talk about environmental and economic problems, but when it comes to topics like racism, immigration, injustice in politics, and stuff related to minorities, they talk about it as if it does not exist in our schools, our communities, and our lives. In Anti-Dote, an out-ofschool group for girls that I belong to, we can talk about anything, from racism to media manipulation. The people who control things don’t consider us youth as capable activists who can learn about the issues that affect our lives. As young women, we need to learn about these important issues. If we never learn about them, we cannot try to make a change—because we can make a change. Even if we are only kids, we have the power to make our future better, and that’s what Anti-Dote tries to help us with... and that’s what school should help us with.
As a senior in geophysical engineering, I do not have a solid background in the social sciences. I am not fully aware of social issues on a world geopolitical level. The current polarization of political and social issues in Venezuela has kept our thoughts turned inward, as we see victims of internal disasters, economic problems, and social issues. We are certainly aware of political diversity as our country struggles to reconcile widely differing ideologies and deals with the difficulty of their practical implementation.
As a geophysical engineer I have learned to deal with themes such as international oil policy, which is one of the most discussed issues here in Venezuela. However, recently students and university student bodies have become active in dealing with issues such as human rights and freedom of expression, because of political events. At this very moment in which we live, in a country with such political diversity, we don’t have any political model to study and follow. More than thinking that the educational process is equipping us with tools to deal with social and political issues, it’s about living events that we haven’t yet lived, and experiences that we don’t have yet. What we have to offer is a world with new ideals, learning from our experience. So I’m not yet prepared to deal with these issues. I’m watching, learning, and hoping for the future.
In the part of the world I come from, it is assumed that the school should give children their first knowledge about life. It is also assumed that the school should give children the basic information that they will ultimately use to build their own vision of the world. But is this really so? Is it true for every student, every country, etc.? I think there are several opinions about that.
I can only share from my school experience: I was lucky to be in a school that helped me improve a lot; and more than that, I have gotten to know myself much better. I have started to believe more in my strengths, and I’ve become more confident about the fact that I will be able to achieve some of my goals after graduation.
The school brought me new friends, taught me how to communicate with my siblings, and also helped me define what a good friend can be … But I think I am still too young to really understand this! My teachers taught me how to value things in the world around us, and how to feel that we are active members of society.
I don’t actually believe that it is only the school that shapes our personalities and prepares us to deal with complex social issues — I think our families play even a greater role in this. Surely, there are other factors as well: the society, our friends, and many others. But in the end, everyone is trained by the school, so the school has a really important role to play in this process.
The school teaches us how to be friendly and generous with those around us, regardless of nationality, skin color, gender, or religion. I find the subjects at our school to be appropriate, and really useful in helping us decide what to do in certain situations: how to deal with people of different ethnic minorities; to what extent we can believe in the news as presented to us by the media; and how we can improve our surroundings — how to care for the environment, how to approach people who are suffering and who are poorer than we are, etc. We don’t have special programs at school on such subjects, but the programs we have can indeed help and guide us on these issues.
Personally, I see school as an institution that, by educating and training people, builds and promotes peace in the world, and I am sure that whatever I have gained from my school will help me thorough my entire life. I already miss my school!
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