The Fabric of Society is Woven in the Classroom

Last week was a disorienting juxtaposition of national mourning and local celebration.  What was a week of Tragedy for Boston and our Nation was a week of diversity, dialogue, and acceptance at Arundel High.  This is equity month at our school which last week meant a Muslim Student Association sponsored “Embassy Tour” to Washington, DC, a GSA club “National Day of Silence” in support of LGBT awareness, and a Latino club sponsored “International Night.” So while I grieved alongside the country, I also danced the Salsa, donned an “Equally Human” shirt, and draped a hijab alongside our students. I struggled to manage and understand my pendulum of conflicting emotions until I received the following email from one of my students:

> I just wanted to get my thoughts out before I forget what I'm really feeling. I'm sitting here right now watching the news coverage on the explosions during the Boston marathon, and I'm just shocked and upset that people really want to cause harm like this. I'm tearing up, and I just can't believe someone would do something like this. Not only this but situations like Newtown and the Denver shootings really get to me. I'm sitting here just wondering what I can do to even slightly stop these events from happening. And I guess what I'm trying to say is I think that's why I'm so passionate about my project. I want to be able to influence people, so that they won't want to harm people like this. This is what I'm truly passionate about. I just want to know if the components of my project are what is going to make a difference on people, and hopefully sway them not to act out in violence. How can I change my project, so that I can also use it to help change the way people react to the things they don't like without using violence? –

-Thanks, Gabby

The project she speaks of is a “Growing Global” summer camp she is working to create for elementary students in the county. Her goal is to teach them about their wider world, cultural diversity, leadership, and empathy. This project wasn’t created in response to these National tragedies, but it is programs like these which are the foundation upon which recovery from tragedy can be quickly raised. It is programs like these that foster healthy communities where young people don’t feel socially alienated, angry, or violent.  What’s more, programs like these are not the exception at Arundel; they are part of perpetual culture of civic engagement and social responsibility that characterize our school. Clubs like interact, student projects like Kenya Venture, charities like Polar Bear Plunge.

If "Boston Strong" has taught us anything, it's that the strength of a community is not measured by whether they are able to avoid tragedy, but rather how they support one another in response to it.

None of this is to say that tragedy (major or minor) can’t strike any school or community.  Rather, we must begin to understand that just as “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” so too, “An alienated child anywhere is a risk to children everywhere.” There must be a club for every kid. A mentor for every youth.  A place for every member of our society to feel heard. Our school is exceptional, but it cannot be the exception. The fabric of a strong society should be woven in the classroom. 

The answer to a safer society  is not more guards or guns.  The answer is more Gabby’s.