Context:

This memo was written as an assignment in a Religious Ethics class to read and distill the Muslim views on abortion as conveyed by Donna Lee Bowden’s essay within the book “Islamic Ethics of Life” edited by Johnathan E. Brockopp.

Click to view the PDF: Muslim Abortion Views Evaluation

An Evaluation of Muslim Views on Abortion as Presented By Donna Lee Bowen

Bowden provides a fairly thorough analysis of the variances and agreements within the Muslim community on the subject of abortion. It is important to note that in general within the Muslim community abortion is decided on a case-by-case basis; those tasked with making these decisions have to weigh the value of maintaining a strong Muslim community with the individual needs of families and mothers who seek abortion (52). 

All Muslims hold a deep respect for life. They take God’s command to “not kill the soul that God has made sacred, except for just cause,” (17:33, 25:68) very seriously. For the great majority of Muslims, any abortion at any point must have just cause out of respect for life, and God’s creation (55).  Islam takes into consideration the gradual development of the fetus in the womb, and that as time goes on the fetus becomes more alive. Prominent thinker Al-Ghazali reasoned that any destruction to life was a crime, but that it grew substantially more serious as the fetus develops further into a human (57). 

The main issue with the gradual nature of fetal development is the notion of ensoulment. While the various schools of Islamic thought vary as to when ensoulment occurs, they all prohibit abortion after ensoulment with the only exception being if it becomes medically necessary to save the mother’s life (55). The discrepancy between the schools of thought originates from two differing Hadiths; one marking four periods of 40 days of fetal development before ensoulment and the other marking the four periods as all happening within 40 days (55). Al-Ghazali, a prominent Shafi’i, rejects the notion that abortion can be done without just cause even before ensoulment; he believes that even before it is fully formed, the fetus is of divine nature (55). The Hanafi school would disagree with Al-Ghazali. They maintain the most liberal view on abortion with some jurists going so far as to permit abortions before 120 days without just cause (56). Other Hanafi jurists disagree on that point but only disapprove of abortions before 120 days (56). On the other end of the spectrum, the majority of Maliki jurists do not approve of abortion at any point in the pregnancy (56). Though, there is disagreement within the school as to whether ensoulment occurs at conception, or after 40 days (56). In contrast, the Hanbali school whose view is markedly more ambiguous than the other schools would not prohibit an abortion before 40 days (56). 

The one great exception for all cases is the health of the mother. On this point the schools of thought all agree that the unborn must be sacrificed in order to save the mother’s life (57). This decision is typically put on the mother’s attending physician (57). One legal rule which supports this position is the notion that “necessity knows no law” (57). This takes into consideration the reality of the world we live in where mothers may need to make a decision to save their own lives. Additionally, the legal premise that the lesser evil should be taken to ward off the greater one (57) supports a mother’s right to save her own life when it becomes necessary. 

Islam, in general, accepts the fetus as a potential life before ensoulment. Schools barring the Maliki, Ibadis, and Imami Shi’i take this a step further with some jurists even saying that abortion before 120 days, or ensoulment, does not actually constitute abortion as it remains an abstract action (56,57). Medical doctor Hassan Hatouth, disagreeing with this notion has spoken on the subject explaining that the Islamic laws were based on the best medical knowledge of the time, and that they should be updated to reflect the current medical knowledge that the fetus is alive well before 120 days (59). The general concensus, barring time of ensoulment, is that once the fetus is ensouled it’s life is no longer potential but actual, and abortion must be justified if it all permitted. 

 

Context:

As part of a writing class. I was tasked with analyzing an academic article and presenting my analysis in a non-traditional format. I chose to create a podcast. Click the link to listen, or feel free to read the transcript provided.

“The Skin We Ink” Breakdown

Overarching question: How to make academic thought more available?

 Hello, and good whatever time it is wherever you are. I hope you’re enjoying whatever weather you’re having and staying healthy. My name is Anthony D’Iorio and today I want to discuss an article written by David Kirkland titled, “The Skin we Ink: Tattoos, Literacy, and a New English Education.” The overarching issue which Kirkland deals with in this article is the inaccessibility of academic thought. Personally I would consider myself an outsider to academic thought. I am dyslexic which, at least for me, means that I think not in words but instead in pictures. When I first began reading academic texts it was incredibly difficult. I could easily understand the concepts and the thoughts that went into the articles I was reading, but the way they were written were wholly inaccessible. The goal of academic thought, at least in theory, is to bring society closer to the truth. Greek philosopher Plato first formalized this in his theory of the forms. This theory essentially says that somewhere, beyond the physical world, exists everything in its most true, most perfect form. He calls these truths forms. We as humans can understand them in the sense that we can differentiate an apple from a tomato because there is a certain appleness to apples and a certain tomatoeness to tomatoes. Academic discourse serves to bring us closer to these forms so that we can understand them in their more complex natures. In terms of schooling, the majority of education aimed at how to access or struggle to access these forms comes from English classes which only teach one way to represent thought. Imagine a multi-lane highway and a much smaller private road which both lead to these truths. Both go to the same place, but the highway is closed and thus the only possible route to reach the destination of academic conversations and thought is through formal English literacy. Only people with strong educational backgrounds and a certain amount of privilege in terms of having the ability and the time to dedicate to this education are allowed access onto the private road. 

The fact of the matter is that there are academic conversations happening outside of academia, they are simply not being considered academic in nature. 

One of the most important issues to address with this article is the perception of black males as illiterate, or less literate than white people. This is seen beyond a societal stigma. Kirkland highlights research done by A. I. Willis in 1995 which found that the actual literature discussing black men as literate and, or practicing literacy is quite thin (Kirkland 377).  While this study does give academic credibility to my point, If I go to my university’s online library catalog and search the terms “Black Male” and “Literacy” the titles which come up on the first page are all focused on helping black males improve their literacy.

Dr. Ibram Kendi of American University published a book titled “How to be an Antiracist” in 2019. Throughout the book he discusses the difference between not being outwardly racist, and actively opposing racism. The latter he refers to as Antiracist.  In his chapter titled Culture Kendi discusses the language known currently as Ebonics. Formerly this language was known as “Nonstandard Negro English” (82). Kendi draws on his own experiences growing up in Queens to discuss the different patterns of speech, as well as a vastly different vocabulary used by, specifically urban, black youth. What this makes me wonder is, if it was deemed by white people that black people spoke non-standard English then what is standard English. Certainly the English I speak is not standard because standard would imply that all English speakers spoke that way which simply isn’t true. I use words, phrases, and inflections which are tied to geographically where I grew up and where I learned to speak and practice literacy. All speakers of the different dialects of english, New Jersyian included, are merely avenues by which we try to access the “form” of English. 

The only language which actually has direct access to its form is Arabic. According to the beliefs of Islam, the Qur’ran was written by God and this is the most perfect form, or to use Plato’s framework, is the “form” of Arabic. English has no such link to its form thus all dialects are valid and none are standard. 

What our academic society has chosen however is that the English in which academic conversation takes place should be less accessible. Throughout the article, Kirkland disproves that this is the only way that academic thought can take form. One of the most metacognitive ways in which he does this is through his use of English. While he uses academically acceptable prose his actual writing is extremely accessible compared to other academic texts.

This brings up the conversation of what literacy actually is. In the academic context, literacy is known essentially as proficiency in academic English. Kirkland however brings up the notion of “multiple literacies” which Gallego and Hollingsworth coined in their 2000 book What Counts as Literacy: Challenging the School Standard. Kirkland uses this framework to understand literacy as multifaceted and going beyond the academic (Kirkland 380). 

For his study, Kirkland decided to study a young teen named Derrick Todd and his use of literacy. Derrick Todd himself was, in the fall of 2005, a ninth grader who was a large, and tall black teen who identified with hip-hop culture and was a self-proclaimed rapper. He regularly wrote and practiced raps with his friends, kept a journal of raps and poems, and had several tattoos. Throughout the process of the study, Kirkland met with Derick and his friends twice a week for a few hours each meeting. These meetings went on for three years. Kirkland used these meetings to construct the boys’ literary biographies through discussing school and books and the ways in which they viewed and practiced literacy as well as watching them practice literacy free from authority or any enforcement of convention (Kirkland 380). Much of this was the friends practicing raps for one another. Kirkland also took an interest in Derick’s tattoos as a means of practicing literacy and went so far as to take photographs of them and interview Derick as to their meaning (Kirkland 380). 

Kirkland analyzed Derick’s tattoos as “literary artifacts” (378) and deconstructed their meaning to Derick as well as their meaning to the outside world. We’ll get further into what his tattoos mean and how they are examples of literacy but I want to first discuss what they actually are. One of his tattoos reads “live or die.” In Derick’s own words this tattoo “talks about the part of me that goes all out. We live in a world where hard work is rewarded… if you Black, though, you gotta give it your all or you gon die”(Kirkland 382). Derick also has two tattoos dedicated to his very young late cousin who was killed after a car struck him as he was waiting for the schoolbus. One of these tattoos is a cross, and the other is an eagle with the words “RIP Clarence Doulley” in the eagle’s mouth (Kirkland 384). The last tattoo that we’ll be discussing is Derick’s tattoo of a bulldog with the word “Boss” written underneath it which he got to commemorate his brother after he was killed (Kirkland 385). 

Now that we know what all of the tattoos are, physically, I want to get into the weeds as to what they mean to Derick and to the larger environment that surrounds him beyond the physical level as well as what they might say about literacy. The first tattoo I brought up, which says “live or die” expresses Derick’s own philosophy of life, and in particular, of black life. Walking into the office of any Academic, one can usually find a poster, or a shadow box or a picture frame with some similar life philosophy. They may be original creations or clichés but regardless they reflect a value the owner wishes to emulate. Some Academics have written papers and journal articles about personal life philosophies. In the same way that these Academics write poetry, display art, or write papers about personal philosophies in order to make a statement and contribute to humankind’s collective thought on the matter, Derick has done so by inscribing himself with his philosophy. The tattoos in commemoration of his cousin serve to, as Kirkland writes, “[connect] him to a present rooted in the past, to other people- dead or alive- and to their stories”(Kirkland 386). In the same way that some writers or artists choose to commemorate, and even extend the life of the fallen. In the words of writer Ernest Hemmingway, “Every man has two deaths, when he is buried in the ground and the last time someone says his name. In some ways men can be immortal.” Derick is, according to Hemingway, extending the lives of his cousin and brother by commemorating them in ink. 

These tattoos also commemorate events of deep emotional trauma for Derick. The loss of a cousin, the loss of a brother, and the harsh social reality of living as a black man in an urban area are all things from which Derick had to cope. He used his tattoos as a means to reclaim his trauma and his grief and his anger as his. In my own, vastly different life from Derick’s I have used writing as a means to cope with situations as well as make commentary about them. In my senior year of high school, I was the Editor-in-Chief of my school’s newspaper. To the distress of many students and families, a junior took his own life that year. I wrote an op ed piece the day we returned to school because that was all I could do. I remember when I showed it to my advisor at the end of the day he told me that there was no way the piece would get through the administration and I said, “I know, but I just write when I feel things.” I used writing to express my views on a situation as well as to cope with my own emotions regarding the loss of a classmate. The only difference between the purposes behind my writing and Derick’s tattoos is that his tattoos are much more personal. 

While writing is a very personal act, Derick’s self inscription is so much more personal. In his open letter to his son, Ta Nasisi Coates spends a lot of time talking about the power of the body. And, more specifically, the politics of the black body. One section which always sticks out to me is when he describes the constant devaluation of the black body, “Sell cigarettes without the proper authority and your body can be destroyed. Turn into a dark stairwell and your body can be destroyed… You must always remember that the sociology, the history, the economics, the graphs, the charts, the regressions all land, with great violence, upon the body. And should one live in such a body? What should be our aim beyond meager survival of constant, generational, ongoing battery and assault?”(Coates 84). Coates goes into the frustration he has felt growing up and living as a black man in the United States. While Kirkland doesn’t expressly discuss everything that Coates does he does hits on one very important aspect which is perception of literacy. Early in his article Kirkland discussed the perception of black men as less literate. When I wanted to make a statement about the society I was living in after the loss of a peer, I had a tool which helped me do so, the newspaper I ran. Derick on the other hand used the most personal tool he could, the tool that no one could take away from him. He used his body to make a statement about death and the safety of his community. Derick did make a contribution to the human discourse which has always been more than words. As a society the purpose of having an academic discourse is to bring us closer to the truth, to bring us closer to the forms. Derick’s tattoos and journal entries, and raps all serve that purpose and are therefore included in literacy. 

In a truly academic society we wouldn’t limit avenues to academic thought but open them so all could contribute to and enrich the great conversation of humanity. That begins with opening academia to songs, poems, art, tattoos, and the thoughts of those people who have for far too long been excluded from these conversations. In my first semester writing class one of our assignments was to enter into an academic conversation. These conversations were literally locked behind password protected journals and databases. And, were limited to quite dry and relatively inaccessible journal articles. The ideas they discussed in these volumes of academic conversation however were anything but dry and inaccessible. But, what’s happened is we as a society have prioritized form over function with our academic conversations. We’ve taken the great human discourse and imprisoned it behind the walls of an enforced convention. I’ll leave you with this thought: imagine what our academic conversations could become if they were broken out of convention. Imagine how expansive our human discourse could be. Now, think about how to get to that point and do it. 

 

Works Cited

“A Quote by Ernest Hemingway.” Goodreads, Goodreads, www.goodreads.com/quotes/9556005-every-man-has-two-deaths-when-he-is-buried-in.

Coates, Ta-Nehisi. “Letter to my Son.” The Atlantic Monthly vol. 316 no. 2, September 2015, pp. 82-91. 

Gellego, M. A., & Hollingsworth, S. What Counts as Literacy: Challenging the School Standard, 2000, pp. 1-23. 

Kendi, Ibram. How to be an Antiracist. 2019, pp 81-91. 

Kirkland, David. “The Skin We Ink: Tattoos, Literacy, and a New English Education.” English Education vol. 41, no. 4, July 2009, pp. 375-395. 

Willis, A.I. “Reading the World of School Literacy: Contextualizing the Experience of a Young African American Male.” Harvard Educational Review 1995, vol 65, pp. 30-49. 

 

Context:

This paper was written for a Comparative Government class. The assignment entailed choosing a country that recently underwent the democratization process and analyzing what factors led to democracy.

 

View the PDF Here: Greek Democracy

Far From the Philosophies of Ancient Greece: 

Modern Greek Transition to Democracy After the Fall of the Military Dictatorship 

 

Ancient Greece has been long regarded as the birthplace of democracy and a flourishing center for philosophy which has given the modern world the seeds for further discussion about democratic ideals as well as their implementation. Many assume that Greece’s ancient roots guide the modern nation’s government institutions, however, the modern state of Greece is an incredibly young nation, younger even than the United States. The first King of modern Greece was installed in 1832 when Greece won its independence from the Ottoman Empire. For years, the Greek state functioned as a monarchy yet since the collapse of a brief military dictatorship in 1974 has transitioned into a democracy. 

For the purposes of this paper, democracy can be defined as it is in Samuel Huntington’s book, The Third Wave, as a form of government in which the political power is won through the “competitive struggle” of the people’s vote through free and fair elections which are regularly scheduled in which a vast majority of the adult population is eligible to vote. This definition of democracy also implies that citizens maintain certain civil rights such as the freedom of speech, protest, and politically organize to the extent which is required in order to engage in “political debate and the conduct of electoral campaigns”. In opposition, a totalitarian regime can be defined as Huntington as being a system of government with typically one person at the top levels of decision making who has a secret police force at his disposal and controls many of the means of communication as well as social and economic institutions. These systems also typically have a strong ideology or vision for the larger society which the leader imposes on the masses. Using these definitions of democracy and totalitarianism this paper will argue that during the period after the collapse of the military dictatorship, the Greek state made tremendous achievement toward full liberal democratization. This shift was caused by the political maturation of the Greek people, the availability of institutions, such as education to all citizens, and the Greek need for assistance from international bodies such as the European Union. 

In the wake of the Greek Civil War, the government functioned in “triarchy” between the monarch, the parliament, and the military. This was interrupted however when, a month before new elections were scheduled, in April of 1967 several junior military officers launched a coup which plunged the country into a dictatorship for seven years. The dictatorship, known as Troika, organized by Georgios Papadopoulos, Nikolaos Makarezos, and Stylianos Pattakos, sought to defend the Greek civilization from Western secular influences.  As the support of the political elites began to dry up, and a navy plot to overthrow the government was uncovered, the junta held elections in 1973. These elections however were “characterized by ballot manipulation and voter fraud.”4 This government eventually fell in large because of various student and university demonstrations. The most famous demonstration took place on November 17 in which the police drove a tank through the Polytechnic Institute of Athens and killed 23 students. In order to attempt to stabilize the nation,  a meeting was held between the branches of government, and former political icons to establish a new government under Constantine Karamanlis. 

One of the main reasons for Greek democratization was the expansion of the availability of education throughout the country. In the 1960s, before the military coup, during the brief period under Center Union Party mandatory public education funded by the government was instituted5. According to Freedom House, and political scientist Daron Acemoglu, Education levels of a nation are heavily correlated with democracy, as education is seen to cultivate democratic ideals which can lead to political development. This change implemented by the CUP mandated that every Greek citizen of school age be enrolled in an educational institution. This policy removed one of the key powers which the elite held over the masses in Greece. For decades, the elite controlled the education system and the vast majority of  poor Greek citizens didn’t have the same access or even comparable access to education as these elites. In addition, during this time period, the government made the process for entrance into universities more objective which cut down on discrimination in higher education. These policies expanded education to groups whose prior access to it was limited, or inadequate.This time period was also characterized by a limitation of propaganda in school curriculum. In forming democracies, one of the earliest steps is empowering the people to govern themselves, as well as allowing access to information which does not stem from the government. In the case of Greece, the expansion of education allowed for a greater diversity of thought, as well as a greater economic diversity within Greek higher education institutions. When the junta eventually fell, a major contributor to that was the student activist community. The educational reforms which took place before the complete authoritarian turn of government provided citizens with the tools to political organization which eventually led to a desire for democracy and a government whose authority is granted from the governed.

Much of the push toward reform and democratization is seen as a reaction to the harsh conditions suffered under the dictatorship. Director of the History and Government department at River College, George Kaloudis, believes that the fact that the military dictatorship could never legitimize itself as a government made support for democracy widespread among citizens. The Greek people saw what could  happen under authoritarianism and wanted to put in place democratic institutions to attempt to ensure that a backslide into authoritarianism would be difficult. One such institution was the exercise of limited government by President Karamanlis of the New Democracy party which took power after the fall of the junta. Instead of enforcing swift, harsh justice on the organizers of the coup which led to the military dictatorship, he took gradual steps to bring them to justice while maintaining public support and giving those sympathizing with the organizers less reason to oppose his government. 

Under the military dictatorship, the Greek Ministry of Culture was used as a means of cultural control by the military. They wanted to de-westernize Greek culture and restore it to the glory of ancient Greece. This Ministry of culture attacked the academics and those who supported democratic ideals as well as both Greek popular culture and the culture of the elite. When the dictatorship fell however the government of the New Democracy party understood the need to strengthen democratic ideals within the Greek population, and therefore although the Ministry of Culture had, under the junta, been used as a means of cultural control to establish a firm national identity. Following the collapse of the military dictatorship the new government instructed the ministry to organize the national culture and promote cultural values associated with democracy.

One of the key aspects of democracy, as included in Huntington’s definition, is that those who acquire political power must do so through a “competitive struggle” for the support of the people. This spirit is exemplified in Greece though its long history of political patronage. Following the collapse of the junta, the notion of political patronage flourished in Greece. Politicians would offer certain benefits or “government rents” to specific groups which they knew to be responsive to these benefits in order to win elections. While this does have some damaging effect by creating an environment suitable for populism, it also establishes a democratic relationship between the people and the government. The people have an expectation that the government will act in their best interests and exercise their ability to remove the government from office if it fails to do so. The tradition of political patronage has thus strengthened Greek democracy although it may open the door to possible corruption of individuals, it establishes the relationship between the government and the electorate which holds the government accountable to the electorate. 

A major cause of Greek democratization is internationalism. All of western Europe supported Greece in its transition to democracy which aided the government’s consolidation and legitimacy. As soon as he took office, much of President Karamanlis’ agenda was focused on foreign policy. His major forgein policy goal was to get Greece into the European Community (now European Union) as a means to enmesh Greece into a community of democracy. One of the criteria for being eligible for membership into the European Union, as outlined in the Copenhagen Criteria, are stable, democratic institutions of government. This was an incredible political move in terms of securing Greece’s future as a democratic country as the nation would essentially be forced to remain a democracy in order to reap the economic benefits which are available to them through membership. This can be seen as recently as the 2008 financial crisis in which Greece was bailed out by the European Union. Without these organizations, the Greek state would have fallen into numerous depressions and financial institutions would have collapsed. Greece’s financial dependence on the European Union and the Eurozone, while detrimental to the Greek economy, acts as a means of securing its democracy by keeping the nation committed to the progressive criteria which allow their membership to these organizations such as stable democratic institutions and protection of minority groups within the country.

The most recent Greek financial collapse and subsequent European Union bailouts are proof that its membership to the European Union acts as a democratic safeguard for Greece. The European Union imposed restrictions on the spending of the Greek government in order to force a government surplus with which to repay debt at the end of the financial year. This most recent financial crisis has left Greece with a 25% blow to its GDP as well as around 20% unemployment. These numbers are incredibly high and show the extent of the damage on the Greek economy. Even so, the national response to this crisis and the harsh bailout restrictions and austerities which were imposed by the international community were not revolution or challenges to the governmental institutions; instead, they were elections. These elections, held in July of 2019, resulted in the center-right party New Democracy winning a majority and forming a government under new Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The solution which the Greek people choose to attempt to solve their economic unrest was a peaceful change of political power in an election in which the entire adult population of the country had the right to vote and over half the eligible population cast a ballot. 

Where in 1967 the nation’s problems resulted in a military coup which left Greece a brutal dictatorship, in 2019 they resulted in peaceful and democratic elections which shifted the political party in power. The results of these elections were respected by all parties. The differences between Greece in 1967 and modern Greece is the transition to democracy. Greek citizens today enjoy access to public education and freedom from discrimination in entering the nations’s isntitutions of higher learning. They enjoy many civil liberties including the ability to form and actively participate within political parties as well as the freedom of expression and religion. These being true, one obstacle which Greece currently faces is its refugee crisis. Thousands of refugees occupy camps in the Greek islands, outside Athens and in northern Greece with poor humanitarian conditions. These people remain in these camps as a result of a gridlock in the European Union which has the power to grant their asylum applications and move them into other European countries. The stalemate of the refugee crisis in Greece, however, has largely to do with the inability of other European countries to agree on a collective solution for migration to other parts of Europe. It is not solely a reflection of the Greek state but rather an issue of dependency on other member states. As long as Greece continues to have support from the European Union, there is no reason that the nation would backslide into authoritarianism or totalitarianism. While Greece does have systemic issues within its government, as evidenced by its financial crisis, it has made the transition to democracy and now its government functions as a democratic regime. 

 

Bibliography

Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson, James A. Robinson, Pierre Yared, From Education to Democracy?, National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper no.11204, March 2005. https://www.nber.org/papers/w11204.pdf. 

British Broadcasting Corporation. “Greece Profile-Timeline.” Accessed November 6, 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17373216 

European Commission. “European Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations,” Accessed November 6, 2019. https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/policy/conditions-membership_en.

Freedomhouse. “Freedom in the World 2019: Greece.” Accessed November 6, 2019. https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2019/greece. 

Huntington, Samuel, The Third Wave, democratization in the late twentieth century. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1993.

Kaloudis, George. “TRANSITIONAL DEMOCRATIC POLITICS IN GREECE.” International Journal on World Peace 17, no. 1 (Mar 01, 2000): 35-59. JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20753241.

Kitsantonis, Niki. “Greek Refugee Camps Are Near Catastrophe, Rights Chief Warns.” The New York Times, October 21, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/31/world/europe/migrants-greece-aegean-islands.html. 

Pappas, Takis S. “WHY GREECE FAILED.” Journal of Democracy 24, no. 2 (04, 2013): 31-45. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/jod.2013.0035. http://proxyau.wrlc.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1349251918?accountid=8285. 

Prentoulis, Marina. “Greece may be Europe’s Sick Patient, but the EU is at Death’s Door.” The Guardian, August 21, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/21/greece-europe-eu-austerity. 

Stevis-Gridneff, Matina. “Greek Elections: Prime Minister Loses Re-Election to Center Right.” The New York Times, July 7, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/07/world/europe/greek-elections-results.html. 

Zorba, Myrsini. “Conceptualizing Greek Cultural Policy: The Non-Democratization of Public Culture.” International Journal of Cultural Policy15, no. 3 (August 2009): 245–59. doi:10.1080/10286630802621522.

 

Context

As a senior in high school my school faced the tragedy of loosing a student to his own hand. Unfortunately this was not the first time this had happened to this community but the fourth in four years. At this point I was the Editor-in-Chief of the school paper and wrote an address to the student body about the mental health crisis which undeniably had plagued our school for many years.

 

“I Don’t Know What’s Happening Anymore”

A call at five in the morning told students that they would get an extra two hours of sleep because one of their own would be sleeping indefinitely. A solemn march into the building from the parking lot. Only the thuds of feet against the pavement and the scattered blare of a car locking polluted the silence. A hallway filled with students standing in circles, silent with the occasional chatter of students who had not yet heard the news: one of our own was dead. At that moment he was everyone’s friend, everyone’s brother, everyone’s cousin, he was everyone. We all feel the loss in the sounds of our silent steps, in the tears on our classmates’ faces, in the black screens of our surfaces, staring blankly back at our own reflection. All of us wondering the same thing… what now?

We do not ask ourselves “why?”  because we all know the answer. We all know the feeling of being totally overwhelmed, of losing sight of the bigger picture, of feeling like we’re losing steam. But, we all kept going. We all reached out to each other. We all made sure that we were ok, and if we weren’t we made sure we got better. We do not ask “why?” because this is not our first time dealing with such a loss. 

I’m writing this on March 20th, and throughout the day phrases like  “well the school needs to do more,” “I want to throw a fit in the administrative office,” and “the school needs to change this.” have been heard throughout the hallways. These messages are popular. It’s easier to blame someone else for the seemingly perpetual problem in this community. But I offer something else: nothing more can come from the school. In the Boomerang Project,  ambassadors are told that they are the change makers. I take that a step further; every student in this school has the ability to change the culture we live in. 

The school has been trying to understand what about our local culture makes it so hyper-competitive and what makes students put so much pressure on themselves. We, the student body, must start treating this problem as what it is: an epidemic. The stigma surrounding mental health is almost as big of an issue as mental health itself. The issue of mental health is far too ingrained in our culture to be solved by a few assemblies or a new testing schedule. What this community needs is a real change in attitudes from the students. We need people to help each other in seeing past the struggles of today and to realize how much there is to live for, to look past the prison walls of education which they build around themselves, and to understand the value of their own lives. 

This community has faced the tragedy of a student taking his own life before. Each time this community has faced this tragedy it repeats the same narrative: make the school lessen the pressure, push back tests, give less homework; begin the race to nowhere. To every student, staff member, or parent in this community who believe the same course of action should be taken again I would like to remind you that according to Albert Einstein, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result. 

What we as a community need to do to change this culture is more than just the occasional “how are you?” text that we’ll send for the next month before we forget the devastating, sinking feeling that we all feel today. We need to unite, not against anything, but for each other. We need to look at ourselves, and we need to start talking and not stop the conversation even if it makes us uncomfortable. We need to start talking and not stop even if we don’t have the words. We need to start talking and not stop even if we don’t know how to address it because the way to address it is to start talking. 

Life is so much more than school, or grades, or SAT scores, or getting into your top college, or that one test. At Highlands we are hyper-elite. We have a work ethic like no other student body. We push ourselves to our limits and we get such tunnel vision that we miss the point of all this. We need more normal high school students who take a day off to go to the beach with their friends, not to get that extra day of studying for a test. If you’re stressed about school, if you feel like you can’t push yourself any further, if you feel like there’s so much going on under the surface that you might explode, take some time. School will be there when you come back, your extracurriculars will be there when you come back, everything will be there when you come back but you have to let yourself come back. Take the time you need. 

We need to be there for each other more than ever, not just for a few months, but consistently. We can’t stop talking about this. It’s up to us, it’s up to this school, this student body, this staff, these parents to change this culture.