I chose this week’s current event article with a purpose in
mind. You are a powerful generation, and
though you might not realize it, your generation is more powerful than mine is. You have the means to get your voices out
into the world in ways that my generations and the ones that came before only
imagined. You are a generation of
technology, awareness, and power. You
might not even realize how powerful all of you together are.
With this power, there comes a certain responsibility. The cape always carries the weight of
difficult decisions. Though your voices
need to be heard, the voice needs to understand what it is saying.
Through my five years of teaching, I have seen students do
extraordinarily nice things. I've seen
students give time, money, talents, and love. I've also seen students do things that brought my heart to a halting
beat. With all the knowledge that this
world has given you, why do you still say mean things? Why do you still speak with intolerance? Why is there still bullying going on?
My grandparents grew up in a time when they couldn't be
friends with black people. My childhood
was filled with children of all different races and colors. My cousin is now married to a black man and
has one of the cutest little girls you will ever meet.
My parents grew up in a time where it was taboo to talk
about many of the issues that your generation is packed with. My adolescence has been overflowing with
understanding that there are all kinds of people, and though on the outside we
may seem a bit different, we’re all the same inside.
YOU have grown up with people that are different from
you. I’m not asking you to change your
beliefs or question your morals. ALL I
want from you is to understand how powerful you are. How powerful your VOICE is.
When you talk, though you might not realize it, you are
being heard. When you say slanderous
things about someone or something, people are listening. The power of your voice to harm people is
huge. When you say hurtful things,
someone is listening. How do you know
that they aren't being affected by you?
In this class we've learned 200 vocabulary words, parts of
speech, sentence, and phrases. We've written essays, talked about themes and characters. We've read poems, articles, and discussed a
myriad of things. I want you to leave my
class knowing all of these things, but I also want you to have an understanding
of the worldly things. That there is a
huge world out there and having awareness of others is one of the best things
you can have.
Be Kind.
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