Great reminder: We are the world!

After yesterday’s s shooting in Ohio, I was immediately brought back to my early years of teaching in the 90’s when we spent more mornings with a moment of silence for a school shooting than I care to remember.  By 1999 and the massacre at Columbine High School, fear permeated through our schools, our hallways and our classrooms.  Fast forward to 2012 and I find myself professionally grounded in all things surrounded and related to digital citizenship.

Last night I kept waking up and I found myself singing We Are The World.  I began writing this post in my head.  Why does the color of our skin, nationality, religion, socioeconomic status, sexual identity and gender define us?  We all feel love, pain and loss no matter where we live, the language we speak or our family dynamics.  In our humanity we can find more things that make us the same than different.  Why don’t we recognize and celebrate this more?

Today I read this quote by Jodee Blanco and it says it all, “Bullying is about kids needing compassion and my perspective is the bully and the victim are the flipside of the same coin. They both need compassion.  Bullying isn’t just the mean things you do, it’s all the nice things you never do.”  The lyrics that played in my head all night support this:

There comes a time when we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And its time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all

We can’t go on pretending day by day
That someone, somehow will soon make a change
We are all a part of Gods great big family
And the truth, you know,
Love is all we need

We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So lets start giving
There’s a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
Its true we’ll make a better day
Just you and me

What are you going to do today to celebrate our humanity, model and teach empathy and make a difference to all the students that are in your classroom and your school?  Our world need us to make this a priority!

Students as Change Agents!

I am so inspired by this YouTube: Kids React to Bullying! This is exactly what I’m trying to do with my #fys11!  I love the student perspective! We need to include more student voice when looking for solutions! Bravo to all the students involved in changing the way we treat others both face to face and online!