CCBC-Net Archives
Re: another side to this discussion -- the one small step issue
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: bookmarch_at_aol.com
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:45:53 -0500 (EST)
Both Megan and Maeve brought up the issue of books that describe real issue s then seem to let readers off with platitudes -- be nice, don't fight, rec ycle and we will all be fine. I am of mixed minds about this. On the one ha nd, when I was doing research in Israel, the group that impressed me most w as Sikkuy, an alliance of Israelis -- Jewish and Arab -- who work together for the civil rights of the Arab citizens of Israel. But when I suggested t o the then director that they should have youth programs, he said he had do ne that for years, and came to believe it was wrong. "It is unfair, " he sa id, "to ask young people to solve issues their parents cannot." In other wo rds, you put teenagers together in a camp and they may grow in many good wa ys, but then they go home to circumstances they do not control, and attitud es they have no power to change. In fact they are put in the position of ju dging their elders without any protection or assistance. And yet, if we look at history, it is often the powerle ss who, in small ways that become large, do change the world. So, for example, when E ngland made more money in sugar slavery than any other country, people who had no vote -- women, the poor -- took part in boycotts of slave-made sugar . And these seemingly tiny and useless acts did contribute to England's dec ision to be the first nation in the world to fully and finally abolish slav ery.
Yes, we cannot either offer false hope or ask young people to march ahead w here we adults are too weak to go. But I would not quickly dismiss the powe r of engaging young people in change, even if that begins in small ways.
Marc Aronson
Received on Wed 23 Nov 2011 12:45:53 PM CST
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:45:53 -0500 (EST)
Both Megan and Maeve brought up the issue of books that describe real issue s then seem to let readers off with platitudes -- be nice, don't fight, rec ycle and we will all be fine. I am of mixed minds about this. On the one ha nd, when I was doing research in Israel, the group that impressed me most w as Sikkuy, an alliance of Israelis -- Jewish and Arab -- who work together for the civil rights of the Arab citizens of Israel. But when I suggested t o the then director that they should have youth programs, he said he had do ne that for years, and came to believe it was wrong. "It is unfair, " he sa id, "to ask young people to solve issues their parents cannot." In other wo rds, you put teenagers together in a camp and they may grow in many good wa ys, but then they go home to circumstances they do not control, and attitud es they have no power to change. In fact they are put in the position of ju dging their elders without any protection or assistance. And yet, if we look at history, it is often the powerle ss who, in small ways that become large, do change the world. So, for example, when E ngland made more money in sugar slavery than any other country, people who had no vote -- women, the poor -- took part in boycotts of slave-made sugar . And these seemingly tiny and useless acts did contribute to England's dec ision to be the first nation in the world to fully and finally abolish slav ery.
Yes, we cannot either offer false hope or ask young people to march ahead w here we adults are too weak to go. But I would not quickly dismiss the powe r of engaging young people in change, even if that begins in small ways.
Marc Aronson
Received on Wed 23 Nov 2011 12:45:53 PM CST
