I am Canadian. I watch 3 down football, hockey and curling. I live on treaty land. I speak French and English. I wear a toque in the winter. I have seen both Celine Dion and Michael Buble in concert. I drink beer, Tim Horton's coffee and eat poutine. I have free health care. I say "please", "thank you" , "excuse me" and "sorry" all the time, and I probably say "eh" a lot too although I don't even realize it and will likely deny it!
I am so proud to live in the True North Strong and Free and, up until yesterday, a place I naively considered to be safe from many of the senseless acts of terror that seem to happen in other places in the world.
When I was a young, impressionable teen, I had a dream for my future. I was obsessed with federal politics, I even watched the parliamentary debates on t.v. I wanted to be the Prime Minister of Canada.
In 1989 I had the opportunity to travel to Ottawa as part of the Terry Fox Youth Centre's Encounters with Canada Program. The first time I laid eyes on the Parliament Buildings, I felt a sense of awe that I had never known. Pride and a connection to my heritage, to my roots and to my ancestors who helped found this land and the principles, rights and freedoms that I hold dear and strive live up to every day as a Canadian. I wanted to be a part of that, to connect the past to the future and to represent the people of Canada.
This dream changed as I entered University and discovered that my passion for serving others through politics was equaled with a passion, and talent, for serving others through education. Instead of a politician, I became a teacher. Instead of representing the citizens of my country, I was educating them.
Many years later, in 2009, I returned to Ottawa with a group of students as part of an electronic journalism project. That feeling of awe returned, perhaps in even a more powerful, profound way as I stepped into the House of Commons and was able to share that pride with my students who were connecting with their Canadian heritage for the first time.
Yesterday, someone tried to take that pride away from us, to rob us of that feeling of security that comes with being a Canadian, that inherent trust in the goodness and kindness of others and the safety of walking freely in our streets, our parks and public places.
Yesterday, someone took the life of a young man who was committed to protecting the rights and freedoms that we hold dear in front of a monument that represents the thousands of Canadians who made the ultimate sacrifice before him in order to guarantee those rights for us. This, to me is symbolic. This act of violence reinforces my Canadian belief in, and right to peace.
Let his sacrifice not go in vain. Let us unite in standing for the Fundamental Freedoms that define us as Canadians. Let us reflect on those in the world who are not so fortunate and who do not have the freedoms we so often take for granted. Let us be stronger and better Canadians through this reflection. Let us use our gifts to serve others in our homes, our communities, our provinces, our territories, our country and the world!
I might be naive, I might be simplistic, I might be too polite, I might have too much faith in human kind and the goodness of people but that's okay because I am Canadian and that's just how we are eh?
Thursday, 23 October 2014
Thursday, 9 October 2014
Mini We Day Regina
It has been a long time since I have been moved by something enough to take the time to blog about it. Today, I have been inspired.
A wonderful, motivated group of high school students took me on a journey of self discovery through a project they created and actualized called Mini We Day Regina. The students shared their passion for the "Me to We" philosophy of putting others before yourself in a variety of ways. The motivational speaker, Molly Burke, provided an emotional keynote, students shared their own experiences with "Me to We" trips and camps and we were reminded that the issues we so often complain about are, in fact, first world problems.
It is an important perspective to take as so much of my day to day work as an administrator in a high school includes requests and meetings for such important things as, "Please change my timetable because that teacher is too tough", "I want my spare in period 5", "My son should have received a 90% on that essay instead of 85", "My parking spot is too narrow" etc.
These students reminded me of how important education is, how in many places in the world children, especially girls, do not even have the opportunity to go to school! We are so fortunate that our children receive the kind of education where they are encouraged to be problem solvers, to think outside the box, to consider their purpose and place on the earth, to use their skills and knowledge in service of others, to recognize injustice and to play a role in supporting positive change.
I am not going to lie, there have been days in my career where I have been in fear for the fact the my students will be the adults caring for me one day. But not today.
Today I know we are in good hands. For there is nothing more powerful than educated youth uniting for a cause that is greater than themselves. Using their power for good rather than evil. It makes me immensely proud that I can say I may have played a small role in that consciousness. It makes me immensely happy that I can watch it happen every day. There are not too many jobs where one has that opportunity. It makes me immensely grateful that I have one of those jobs.
This morning, Molly Burke challenged the students to live, learn, pass it on. I accept that challenge, do you?
A wonderful, motivated group of high school students took me on a journey of self discovery through a project they created and actualized called Mini We Day Regina. The students shared their passion for the "Me to We" philosophy of putting others before yourself in a variety of ways. The motivational speaker, Molly Burke, provided an emotional keynote, students shared their own experiences with "Me to We" trips and camps and we were reminded that the issues we so often complain about are, in fact, first world problems.
It is an important perspective to take as so much of my day to day work as an administrator in a high school includes requests and meetings for such important things as, "Please change my timetable because that teacher is too tough", "I want my spare in period 5", "My son should have received a 90% on that essay instead of 85", "My parking spot is too narrow" etc.
These students reminded me of how important education is, how in many places in the world children, especially girls, do not even have the opportunity to go to school! We are so fortunate that our children receive the kind of education where they are encouraged to be problem solvers, to think outside the box, to consider their purpose and place on the earth, to use their skills and knowledge in service of others, to recognize injustice and to play a role in supporting positive change.
I am not going to lie, there have been days in my career where I have been in fear for the fact the my students will be the adults caring for me one day. But not today.
Today I know we are in good hands. For there is nothing more powerful than educated youth uniting for a cause that is greater than themselves. Using their power for good rather than evil. It makes me immensely proud that I can say I may have played a small role in that consciousness. It makes me immensely happy that I can watch it happen every day. There are not too many jobs where one has that opportunity. It makes me immensely grateful that I have one of those jobs.
This morning, Molly Burke challenged the students to live, learn, pass it on. I accept that challenge, do you?
Tuesday, 29 October 2013
Being bullied
Bullying appears to be the topic of the day. In light of more recent suicides attributed to bullying, it is an important topic to be addressed appropriately in many forums. The issue I have is that, the definition of bullying itself is being misused as a blanket explanation for any conflict that occurs. If a student pushes another student on the playground, he or she is being bullied, if a child calls another child a name or makes a face it is bullying. If teasing occurs it is called bullying.
Conflict is a part of life, we are not always going to agree with our colleagues, teammates, family or friends. People are going to get angry at one another. At some point in time, it is inevitable that someone is going to do or say something that is going to hurt us. What is important is what we do with that and how we learn from it.
We need to give our children and our students the skills to be able to say, "I don't like it when you...", "Please stop..." "It makes me feel bad when..." We need to be able to help our students problem solve, understand one another, appreciate others' feelings and learn their mistakes. Otherwise, things won't change.
Bullying, real bullying, is a big deal. By definition, bullying is an intentional, habitual, repeated pattern of behaviour intended to be hurtful or demeaning or to exercise power over an individual. By painting every conflict with the same brush; by labeling every disagreement, fight and eye roll with the same term "bullying" we are minimizing the real issue and not focusing on what really needs to be addressed in schools, mental health agencies, law enforcement and government in regards to bullying.
Last night, the top news story involved a high school student who wore a full painted face of gothic style make-up to school. The principal asked her not to wear that make-up at school anymore. The news story called this "bullying" by the principal. The story said that the parent and student had filed complaints with both that school division and the Ministry of Education. Further, they were petitioning the legislature to do something about this bullying; the mother was quoted as saying, "this bullying has got to stop."
I find it ironic that in the last week there have been 2 stories of young girls who have taken their own lives as a result of relentless, ongoing demeaning postings on social media by peers and yet the "bullying" the media is calling for addressing in their top news story is a principal enforcing what he believes to be the school dress code. Am I saying she shouldn't be allowed to wear her make-up? That is not my decision to make. Would it be okay with a potential employer for her to wear that make up as a server in a restaurant, a teller in a bank, a cashier in a store? Likely not. Is a school dress code an issue worth discussing and clearly defining at a school or division level? Certainly. Is enforcing the dress code bullying? I do not think so. Where do we draw the line? What is the real issue? What is the true definition of bullying? And once we know and understand what bullying really is, what are we going to do to prevent it and to address it?
Conflict is a part of life, we are not always going to agree with our colleagues, teammates, family or friends. People are going to get angry at one another. At some point in time, it is inevitable that someone is going to do or say something that is going to hurt us. What is important is what we do with that and how we learn from it.
We need to give our children and our students the skills to be able to say, "I don't like it when you...", "Please stop..." "It makes me feel bad when..." We need to be able to help our students problem solve, understand one another, appreciate others' feelings and learn their mistakes. Otherwise, things won't change.
Bullying, real bullying, is a big deal. By definition, bullying is an intentional, habitual, repeated pattern of behaviour intended to be hurtful or demeaning or to exercise power over an individual. By painting every conflict with the same brush; by labeling every disagreement, fight and eye roll with the same term "bullying" we are minimizing the real issue and not focusing on what really needs to be addressed in schools, mental health agencies, law enforcement and government in regards to bullying.
Last night, the top news story involved a high school student who wore a full painted face of gothic style make-up to school. The principal asked her not to wear that make-up at school anymore. The news story called this "bullying" by the principal. The story said that the parent and student had filed complaints with both that school division and the Ministry of Education. Further, they were petitioning the legislature to do something about this bullying; the mother was quoted as saying, "this bullying has got to stop."
I find it ironic that in the last week there have been 2 stories of young girls who have taken their own lives as a result of relentless, ongoing demeaning postings on social media by peers and yet the "bullying" the media is calling for addressing in their top news story is a principal enforcing what he believes to be the school dress code. Am I saying she shouldn't be allowed to wear her make-up? That is not my decision to make. Would it be okay with a potential employer for her to wear that make up as a server in a restaurant, a teller in a bank, a cashier in a store? Likely not. Is a school dress code an issue worth discussing and clearly defining at a school or division level? Certainly. Is enforcing the dress code bullying? I do not think so. Where do we draw the line? What is the real issue? What is the true definition of bullying? And once we know and understand what bullying really is, what are we going to do to prevent it and to address it?
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