SENTINEL WATCH February 26, 2007 Issue

EVERYONE'S CHALLENGE

DAVID STEVENS

RECENTLY THE TELEVISION SHOW Oprah featured a high-school program designed to help stop the violence and alienation that youth face every day. Students from a school in Monroe, Michigan, participated in exercises aimed at breaking down barriers between students and promoting their valuing of one another. The show discussed how the climate of a school often fosters verbal harassment, bullying, and severe violence by accepting them as the norm. What I saw tugged at my heart for action.

One 2003 survey revealed that more than 800,000 students are verbally harassed each year in American high schools on the basis of race. Dress, academic grades, religion, friends, sexual orientation, and musical preference were also cited as reasons for the negative labeling that leads to anger and despair (oprah.com). This behavior is not limited to American schools; organizations such as "Youth against racism in Europe" indicate widespread unrest.

The exercises involved on Oprah's show were designed to illustrate for students the negative impact of harassment, bullying, and prejudice—and at the same time to show them the good qualities they have in common. And it succeeded! Following the program, one assistant principal from the school noted that, in addition to greater respect among the students themselves, student-teacher relationships had improved as well. She added, "I believe that we now see each other for who we really are."