Solitary Confinement

After listening to this story from NPR on the radio, I found myself struggling with the idea of solitary confinement, and other ways that men are punished. One of my favorite quotes is this one, by Eugene Debs: "While there is a lower class I am in it; while there is a criminal element I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free”. This is what I contemplated as I listened. I thought of the fact that we only get one chance on this earth, one chance to make a life that fulfills us. And to think that one mistake (granted, one huge mistake) would warrant 36 years in a solitary cell 23 hours a day, after a trial that was biased by prejudice. I find it so tragic that a human life can be thrown away so easily, even if it is the life of a murderer. Now, don't get me wrong, murderers should be punished. However, I disagree with this idea of solitary confinement, and I disagree with our inherently unjust justice system, and I disagree with the idea that criminals never get second chances. Especially if it is only because of their race. I am an idealist, and ideally, I would live by Debs' quote, and consider myself not to be free while one human life rots in a cell. However, it is a corrupt world in which we live, and it would take a mighty wind to reverse the dangerous course of our justice system. Can this wind ever begin to blow?

Freedom Writers

I just finished watching "Freedom Writers", a film about a teacher who united students who were expected to fail, and made it possible for them to succeed. Of course, I was inspired by this true story. It made me think about all the wonderful teachers that I have had, especially Ms. Smith. I am a student assistant for her this year, and I have found out some amazing things. I already knew the lasting effects of Smith's compassion and devotion to her students through personal experience, but I learned the depth of her compassion when reading through the comments of some of her non-honors freshman students. Though the grammar was hardly perfect, the voices of these sometimes forgotten students was clear. They wanted her to know that she meant something to them. There was one student in particular, who admitted that he was not trying as hard as he could be in school. He talked of how much Ms. Smith had inspired him to do more with his mind. He talked about his desire to succeed in her class, because he believed in what she was teaching him, and he finally believed in himself. I remember going through the rest of the day wishing that every teacher could have that kind of an effect on their students. My school has many amazing teachers, most of whom care deeply about each and every one of their students. But I still worry about those kids who do not get the opportunities that I have in my amazing classes. I worry that they have been told all their lives that they cannot rise above, and that they must fail, because that is what they have always done. They settle for D's just because they are not F's (Ms. Smith has found a way around that of course!) and they hate every day that they have to walk through the doors of this amazing school. People blame it on video games, TV, and many other elements of modern culture., but very rarely do we blame it on the ideology that they have carried with them since that first F, the ideology that tells them of their incompetence, because they must be stupid if they cannot pass that one class, or even that one test. It starts with one grade, or one comment, or one lack of a comment, and it turns into a hopeless life. How do we change this? I don't have the answer to that question, but I do know this: teachers like Ms. Smith can, and will change the lives of their students by showing them that they are not failures, and that at least one person cares about them. It is inspiring to know that these people still exist, and that I get to walk the same halls as them every day of the week.

Frederick Douglass

Our English class read The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave this past week. It had been a while since my peers and I had discussed racism, not since freshman year. We have been having some interesting discussions on race in America. For the student opening activity that my group is doing on Chapter 11, I created this blog which will lead the students to a fishbowl on the discussion tomorrow (Wednesday) at around 1:15. If you are up for a discussion, jump in, or just read the interesting comments that are sure to pop up. I love that our teacher is allowing us to teach each other this book, because I really enjoyed creating this blog and I think we really understand the implications of his text.