Respect Begins With Awareness

Published in the Centre Daily Times, Feb 4, 2011

In the United States, we are very sensitive in accommodating different abilities and individual styles of learning and functioning in our schools, workplaces and public spaces.

Differentiated teaching, accessible buildings and parking spaces and laws that protect against discrimination are examples of accepting the equality of and the differences among people.

Yet our current national focus on preventing bullying points to the existence of subtler hurdles that prevent the complete inclusion of everyone.

“No Name Calling Week,” celebrated annually in January, is an anti-bullying awareness-raising program aimed at schools.

This year, Barnes and Noble, which is one of the corporate sponsors, put together a compilation of short videos on its website of children’s book authors taking a stand against bullying.

The authors use their books and lives to share anecdotes and strategies, reminding us that we can all be bullies or be bullied, depending on the situation.

Name calling and bullying are not limited to children. Adults sometimes resort to name calling instead of offering specific criticism of a particular action.

It is much easier to ask someone, “Why are you acting so American, Indian, Chinese or like some other nationality or Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jew or other religion or so conservative or liberal, or like a girl, boy or any other random group?” than to offer specifics of a disagreement.

Such statements stereotype people and assume that some groups and ways of thinking are superior to others.

Bullying is an international phenomenon, and people use many excuses for bullying: They are bigger, older, traditional or modern or know better. They are richer, more or less educated, very skilled or unskilled, closer to God, or pray to the right God or belong to the correct political party. They have the “right” kinds of names, and those they are bullying don’t.

I grew up in India, and bullying there had its own cultural specificity. Because age and seniority are respected, birth order and superior hierarchy can give people the ability to bully. Because education and money are respected, professionals and

the rich can appear all knowing, and bully by withholding information and access.

This by no means implies that everyone who can misuse their power does so.

However, when awareness of these actions as “bullying” does not exist, such behavior can be deemed normal, and those who stand up against it labeled deviants. Now that I have spent more years abroad than in India, I may take offense at things many Indians take in stride, and they may take offense at things I take in stride.

Some people hide their bullying behind humor to make it acceptable. And when there is no awareness that this is still bullying, anyone who reacts to this could be portrayed as being too sensitive and can be further bullied.

At Park Forest Middle School, where my daughter attends school, programs like P.R.I.D.E., or Park Forest Respects Individual Differences Every Day, are helping students get a better handle on the multiple facets of bullying. They are lucky to get an early start at learning lessons on respect that some adults are yet to comprehend.

These awareness campaigns are laudable steps toward a common language of respect.

Of course, the more sensitive we are, the more work we have to do to stand up against bullying and to make sure that we, ourselves, do not bully others.

Back to School “Must-Haves”

Originally Posted on the Common Threads Blog,
Centre Daily Times, Aug 22, 2007

The end of summer vacations is here.

And it is “Back to School” season…accompanied by marketing efforts announcing the “must-haves” for this new season.

The other day, my daughter showed me a flyer which said “Send your kids back to school in style.”

I could go on and on about my frustration with this…

Yes, children outgrow their clothes – and they need new ones, but do they “need” the latest fashions to be able to learn at school?

Yes, they need a sturdy backpack, but do they “need” the latest kind to carry their stuff?

Yes, they need comfortable shoes, but....

Do they need to wear these “must-haves” – the uniforms dictated by the fashion industry?

Imagine all the consumption, that turns kids into clones of each other, in the name of individuality.

And imagine all the resources spent, in making these items and then transporting them from all parts of the world to us.

Getting ready for “back to school season,” needs a change in mindset, rather than a change in wardrobe.

Would it not suffice, if we got ready for school,
….by mentally getting ready for the structured learning environment?
….by getting used again to early bedtimes and waking up early ?
….by adjusting to learn in the midst of other children ?
….by polishing up attitudes towards classmates and teachers ?
….by learning to manage time to handle the demands of schoolwork and other work ?

These changes are hard enough for many kids, after a long summer vacation, even without having to figure out if their clothes are “cool.”

And I know some kids may be waiting for school in order to wear their “cool” clothes.

But as a society, should we really be encouraging this notion in our kids, that we are only the sum of our material possessions?

Mix-it-up and More

Originally Posted in Common Threads Blog,
Centre Daily Times, May 23, 2007

Another school year is coming to an end. Kids are counting down to summer vacation.

Parents and teachers are probably thinking ahead to the summer too, while they evaluate the year that went by. Figuring out what worked, what to change, and what to do better next year.

Our kids grow both academically and socially at school. Since they spend a large fraction of their waking hours at school, it is a great place to teach them tolerance for people that are different from them in some way - to teach them empathy, and to fight hate.

A tool to help teachers and parents in this goal is the website, www.tolerance.org - the online tool of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The site offers ideas to teachers to make their classrooms better, to parents to engage in discussions with and partner with their kids, and to kids to empower themselves and change the world.

Park Forest Middle School implemented an idea from this website last year – they participated in the National Mix-it-Up Day program on November 17. According to the school website, the day was observed “to break down cliques and social barriers. In national surveys, 70% of students named the cafeteria as the school setting where social boundaries are most clearly drawn, so all of the students sat (on that day) at tables corresponding to numbers placed on their hands instead of their usual lunch spots.”

What a wonderful idea – I wonder what the students learnt, and also if they reverted back to their old spots the next day? Many of us adults could benefit from some “Mix–it–up” sessions ourselves – we are too often found only in our comfort zones. And stepping outside of them, and getting to know some new “others,” may reveal a few connecting common points.

The website is worth visiting as we plan for the summer and the next school year - it is a source of information and ideas. Teachers can also get grants for implementing ideas to promote tolerance for all. And of course, the more of us that are empowered

Figuring out the individuals in the SCASD School Board Primaries

Originally Posted on the Common Threads Blog,
Centre Daily Times, May 1, 2009

Several days ago, one of the candidates running for the SCASD school board knocked at my door. He introduced himself, and asked me if I had already made up my mind. Since I had a lot of questions and it was a cold night, my husband and I asked him to come in.

He was gracious enough to spend a lot of time talking with us. We got some idea of why he was running, his general philosophy of education and what he favored instead of the current high school construction plan. He favored two schools, had an idea of where the second school could be located, but said he would be responsive to community input on all options. He also said he would use technology to offset the costs of building a second school.

One example he gave us - for advanced courses with smaller enrollments and “motivated” students, teachers could physically teach a course at one school, which would be telecast to the second school. However, he did not elaborate on how we would choose which school would have the teachers, and which the technology – or how this option would impact the learning of these “motivated” students.

When he mentioned that taxes would be going up 9 percent if the current board continued, I told him that I had understood it differently. That 9 percent was only the figure for the maximum amount that taxes could be raised to – not the amount that taxes were definitely going to be raised to. His clarification that this was indeed true, gave me confidence in my assessment of the situation.

As we said good night, we appreciated the face time with him, giving us a better idea of him as a potential school board member – and a better basis on how to vote. To some extent, the recent coverage about the Centre County League of Women Voters Candidates Night held on April 25, 2007, in the CDT, provided us this face time with other candidates too. I was happy to see that the candidates’ positions on issues other than the High School renovation were reported on. About 60 people attended the event, and many more saw it on TV.

For those of us who missed it, the event will be telecast again on Channel 7 (CGTV) on May 2 at 10 am, May 3 at 9 pm, May 5 at 1 pm, May 8 at 12 am and May 10 at 2 pm. Further, candidate interviews can be viewed on Channel 98 (CETV) on May 2 at 6 pm, May 3 at 6 pm and May 6 at 8 pm, May 10 at 4 pm and May 12 at 5:30 pm. For more information on these events in the following weeks, you could go to http://centreconnect.org/index.html, and check the weekly schedule of CETV (Channel 98) and CGTV (Channel 7) or call 238-5031, if you wanted a copy of the programs.

We each need to use these opportunities to tune in to the individual candidates and go beyond the simplistic reduction of “Go” versus “Stop/Change,” which does not tell us the diversity of thought, experience and philosophical stances of the individual candidates, in the broader arena of our children’s education, funded by our tax dollars.

Understanding these philosophies is crucial since the board, once elected, may not be able to get our opinions on each and every issue they act on, on each and every program they consider adding or removing. Evaluating the individuals, rather than the groups, and figuring out who fits our individual philosophies may also help heal our divisions.

Teaching Foreign Languages and More...in School

Originally posted in Common Threads Blog,
Centre Daily Times, April 5, 2007

The State College School district is seeking our input on “opportunities and challenges in preparing students for their futures,” as part of their 2007–2013 strategic planning process. I gave my input by filling out their online survey “Strategic Response Survey Form,” at www.scasd.org.

As I did so, I kept in mind the National Governors Association meeting held in February, 2007, which called for “a national commitment to changing our education to meet the challenges of globalization and international competition.”They suggested that we change our current mindset, overhaul our education system nationally and focus on teaching math, science, technology, engineering and foreign language proficiency.

My recommendations - please start teaching a foreign language in elementary school, strengthen the math and science curriculum, foster global understanding, teach students to rebuild local communities – it would be a wasted opportunity if we do not attend to these.

Learning language as a child is relatively easy. I grew up in India, where children are routinely exposed to multiple languages as a matter of course, especially in bigger cities. In Mumbai (Bombay), I spoke Malayalam at home, since my parents came from the southern state of Kerala. My parents spoke Tamil or Malayalam with a few neighbors, and Hindi (the national language) or Marathi (the state language) with the other neighbors who also spoke Kannada, Konkani, or other languages, depending on the state they originally came from.

Growing up in this environment, I quickly learnt Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi from home and neighbors, and English at school starting at age 3. Kids who did not go to English Medium schools start learning English around age 7.

Schools in India also teach Hindi, the national language around age 8, and the regional language of the state (in my case Marathi) at age 9 or 10. Many people who grow up in Mumbai, end up speaking 4 to 5 different languages. Some of us were also lucky to learn other foreign languages like French or German in high school, if our schools offered that option.

If SCASD introduces a foreign language in elementary school, it would be joining a local charter school, Young Scholars of Central PA, and a host of other countries that do so already.

On March 12, 2007 the United Kingdom announced that all school children will start learning a modern foreign language at age 7, from 2010.

The March 29, 2007 edition of the Christian Science Monitor reports the ages when children in some parts of Europe start learning a second language: France: 5; Austria, Belgium, and Sweden: 6; Italy: between 6 and 7; Germany: 6 and 8; Spain, Greece, Bulgaria, and the Netherlands: 8; Denmark: 9; Finland: 10, while in the US, many kids start learning foreign languages at age 13.

Of course, learning a foreign language is only one step towards preparing students for the global economy, we also need to build empathy and understanding of other cultures.

Add to that a study of ethical behavior and respect towards our fellow human beings and the planet – both locally and globally - helping us perhaps figure out how to stay self sufficient locally in a global environment.

Add to this a strong focus on science and math, and a healthy respect for achievement in these areas.

From these, will come the answers to meeting the challenges of increasing energy demand, global warming, increased materialism and - may even help us find a way to end strife in the world.

For those who want to contribute your thoughts to SCASD, please go to “Strategic Response Survey Form,” at www.scasd.org.