Youth in Action

Youth in Action was eye opening, confusing, exhilarating and informative all at the same time. I really admire all of the students and how they are able to put themselves and their thoughts out there by relating their life to the topics of education and personal success. It took me a while to grasp the understanding of the lesson. Some of you may have noticed I was completely silent during the whole discussion time. I wasn't quite sure why I was silent but later realized that I couldn't push myself to raise my hand and speak about how I agreed with them or what my opinion was because I felt extremely uncomfortable. The last thing I wanted to do was unintentionally say something wrong and hurt someone's feelings.

When I left that day, I was very angry and upset because I felt like I was being attacked or judged for who I am and how I was raised and grew up.I was also very upset with myself for not understanding. Then I tried putting myself in their shoes. I talked to my Dad who is a Providence Public School teacher in South Providence. He really explained to me how tough it is for students in his school system to have access to certain resources that are crucial to learning. I still do not fully understand the frustration these students have because I never lived the life that they have. However, I became more sensitive to understand that some people can have all of the ability in the world but have absolutely no access to anything they need. This is a huge flaw in the education system. I think as a class, we need to stop thinking about ourselves for a moment. Take off the blinders and take down that glass wall that blocks our views and perspectives on certain topics. Instead of seeing this as an attack on certain people because they grew up more privileged than others, use it as a tool to learn from. Even though most of the students are younger than us, when they are neglected of an education in their school system, it makes them mature and makes them stand up for themselves. Just like we use our service learning students as a tool to learn from, Youth in Action is a great way for us to get a glimpse into students lives who are frustrated with the lack of access they receive from their school department.

http://www.occupyharvard.net/u-s-education-system/

The link above is a post I came across and thought it was very interesting. It describes some of the ways our country is lacking in the education system. 

-S