Over the last few years, young activists have brought national attention to the issue of rape on campus. In response congress members have proposed the CASA Act to reform how universities respond to and report sexual assaults at their schools. Our students decided to advocate for this bill. For more information on the bill see here: http://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/campus-sexual-assault
Tell Congress to Pass the Campus Accountability and Safety Act (CASA)!
Over the last few years, young activists have brought national attention to the issue of rape on campus. In response congress members have proposed the CASA Act to reform how universities respond to and report sexual assaults at their schools. Our students decided to advocate for this bill. For more information on the bill see here: http://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/campus-sexual-assault
Then go to this link: http://postcard.com/join-a-movement/28 to make a postcard. Each image you upload will become 3 postcards.
Imagine when MCS students walk to the Senator's office and deliver hundreds of postcards with your messages on them! The more the merrier and if you know people who work on related issues please let them know.
Thank you and please spread the word!!!
Trips and Guest Speakers for Object/Defy Campaign (with pictures)
Tara Abrol
We have already had a wonderful guest speaker Tara Abrol, the founder of www.bigtalksworkshops.com, who spoke about various kinds of abuse that happen in relationships, consent, and helped us analyze the popular song “Blurred Lines” and critique its message. The students were so happy to have had those conversations and all realized that there were so many kinds of behaviors that they had not realized were abusive. They want future students at MCS to have these kinds of workshops as well and are talking to school leadership about that.
NYCORE Panel on Sexism and Patriarchy
The New York Collective of Radical Educators hosted a panel with the amazing speakers who talked about the work they do in and out of the classroom around street harassment, empowering young women, and fighting male supremacy. MCS students were the youngest there and asked very important and insightful questions. It included the following organizations:
Student quote: “I liked the part that was interactive and I got to hear lots of stories from teachers and their students and people who were victims and just to know that there were other people out there who were also working on it. It made me feel like we could be supportive.”
Hollaback: Revolution 2015
This event at the New School University expanded the discussion of street harassment to look at it’s impact on diverse communities including women of color, Muslims, LGBTQ, and other groups. It featured inspiring activists, dancers, and poets all working to address this and related issues. Again, MCS students participated in the Q and A and brought up great points!
Student quotes:
“The second speaker was really interesting because she started the hashtag #youoksis, that she was able to create a hashtag for women of color, because they were getting more harassment or more violent harassment, especially where they are living. Now people all over the country are using it.”
The Hunting Ground
This documentary about sexual assault on campus brought 28 students and almost half as many parents out to the theater. The documentary powerfully tells the story of students, both male and female, who had been assaulted and then had their school blame them, shut them down, or otherwise fail to help. It highlights the problem that because universities rely on their reputation, they would rather downplay the issue, thus letting predators roam free where they often repeat the crime several times.
Student quotes:
“There were so many different kinds of victim blaming, they found so many different ways to blame the victim, it was astounding.”
Hank Willis Thomas: "Unbranded: A Century of White Women, 1915-2015,"
Students traveled to the Jack Shainman Gallery in Chelsea to see this art exhibit which features one advertisement per year for 100 years. The artist removed all text, leaving only the images to highlight the representation of white women in advertising. The students engaged in very interesting conversations about the images, highlighting the racism, objectification, cultural appropriation inherent in the images. One major revelation for the students was that the images seemed to get progressively more explicit, sexualized, and objectified.
We have already had a wonderful guest speaker Tara Abrol, the founder of www.bigtalksworkshops.com, who spoke about various kinds of abuse that happen in relationships, consent, and helped us analyze the popular song “Blurred Lines” and critique its message. The students were so happy to have had those conversations and all realized that there were so many kinds of behaviors that they had not realized were abusive. They want future students at MCS to have these kinds of workshops as well and are talking to school leadership about that.
NYCORE Panel on Sexism and Patriarchy
The New York Collective of Radical Educators hosted a panel with the amazing speakers who talked about the work they do in and out of the classroom around street harassment, empowering young women, and fighting male supremacy. MCS students were the youngest there and asked very important and insightful questions. It included the following organizations:
- Girls for Gender Equity (http://www.ggenyc.org/)
- Hollaback! (http://www.ggenyc.org/)
- SPARK (http://www.sparksummit.com/about-us/)
- And Ileana Jimenez (feministteacher.com) also serving as moderator
Student quote: “I liked the part that was interactive and I got to hear lots of stories from teachers and their students and people who were victims and just to know that there were other people out there who were also working on it. It made me feel like we could be supportive.”
Hollaback: Revolution 2015
This event at the New School University expanded the discussion of street harassment to look at it’s impact on diverse communities including women of color, Muslims, LGBTQ, and other groups. It featured inspiring activists, dancers, and poets all working to address this and related issues. Again, MCS students participated in the Q and A and brought up great points!
Student quotes:
“The second speaker was really interesting because she started the hashtag #youoksis, that she was able to create a hashtag for women of color, because they were getting more harassment or more violent harassment, especially where they are living. Now people all over the country are using it.”
“All the
speakers were really cool, and this one guy Q was doing some really cool work.
Before he started talking about his work, I didn’t really realize what role
guys could play. It was really cool how he was engaging young men in a
predominantly female topic or issue.”
The Hunting Ground
This documentary about sexual assault on campus brought 28 students and almost half as many parents out to the theater. The documentary powerfully tells the story of students, both male and female, who had been assaulted and then had their school blame them, shut them down, or otherwise fail to help. It highlights the problem that because universities rely on their reputation, they would rather downplay the issue, thus letting predators roam free where they often repeat the crime several times.
Student quotes:
“There were so many different kinds of victim blaming, they found so many different ways to blame the victim, it was astounding.”
“With the case
of Jameis Winston, they were interviewing people and everyone was saying, ‘This
poor guy, this poor football player, this is going to ruin his life’ and what
about the victim?”
“There were so
many expulsions for cheating on tests but none for sexual assault. Even though
it’s not on record that there were so many sexual assaults at some of the most
renown colleges or universities, those were some of the places where it
happened the most. And they led to no expulsions. That was ridiculous, they
should be arrested, or at least expelled.”
“It made me feel
really frustrated with how our system handles victims. For example, Jameis
Winston suffered no consequences in his life, but the girl was run out of town.
The way we handle things was a real let down.”
“The things
people were saying about the victim, ‘how this one girl got jealous’ or that
she was a liar. It was so upsetting. Imagine this awful thing happens to you,
you have the courage to come out about it and everyone just shuts you down.
That’s horrible.”
Hank Willis Thomas: "Unbranded: A Century of White Women, 1915-2015,"
Students traveled to the Jack Shainman Gallery in Chelsea to see this art exhibit which features one advertisement per year for 100 years. The artist removed all text, leaving only the images to highlight the representation of white women in advertising. The students engaged in very interesting conversations about the images, highlighting the racism, objectification, cultural appropriation inherent in the images. One major revelation for the students was that the images seemed to get progressively more explicit, sexualized, and objectified.
Object/ Defy: Objectification is Dehumanization! MCS Upper School takes on Sexual Violence
This year the 7th and 8th grade students have decided to focus our activism campaign
on sexual violence. Needless to say, we had very intense debates, rounds of voting,
and homework to do before agreeing on this topic. It is both deeply personal and a
timely political topic. Students looked at a variety of subtopics relating to sexual
violence and also analyzed the root causes and effects. They brought up “rape
culture” in the media as a root cause, a lack of legal protections for victims of sexual
assault in the military and on college campuses, as well as a range of other issues.
The title of the campaign is Object/ Defy: Objectification is Dehumanization. They
have decided to focus on three areas that address this issue on a personal, cultural
and political basis.
Healthy Relationships
Students will first learn and then teach other youth how to make sure all of our
relationships are founded on respect. This goes for romantic relationships as well as
friendships and professional relationships with adults. While for the most part, they
are not dating, thinking about these things ahead of time will help them to make
good decisions and give good advice to their peers.
Media and Culture
Students are analyzing representations of masculinity and femininity in the media
as a root cause of sexual violence. They are looking at objectification and rape
culture and will be speaking back through remaking ads, and videos to reframe the
message, as well as satirizing news coverage.
Policy and Advocacy
Students chose to focus our policy goal on sexual assault on campus. There has been
a lot of news coverage and thus efforts by our elected representatives to respond.
The students have chosen a bill introduced in the Senate called the Campus
Accountability and Safety Act, which will reform how universities respond to sexual
assault cases and provide funds for survivors and training for staff. They
partnered with postcard.com to create a postcard campaign found at http://postcard.com/join-a-movement/28.
on sexual violence. Needless to say, we had very intense debates, rounds of voting,
and homework to do before agreeing on this topic. It is both deeply personal and a
timely political topic. Students looked at a variety of subtopics relating to sexual
violence and also analyzed the root causes and effects. They brought up “rape
culture” in the media as a root cause, a lack of legal protections for victims of sexual
assault in the military and on college campuses, as well as a range of other issues.
The title of the campaign is Object/ Defy: Objectification is Dehumanization. They
have decided to focus on three areas that address this issue on a personal, cultural
and political basis.
Healthy Relationships
Students will first learn and then teach other youth how to make sure all of our
relationships are founded on respect. This goes for romantic relationships as well as
friendships and professional relationships with adults. While for the most part, they
are not dating, thinking about these things ahead of time will help them to make
good decisions and give good advice to their peers.
Media and Culture
Students are analyzing representations of masculinity and femininity in the media
as a root cause of sexual violence. They are looking at objectification and rape
culture and will be speaking back through remaking ads, and videos to reframe the
message, as well as satirizing news coverage.
Policy and Advocacy
Students chose to focus our policy goal on sexual assault on campus. There has been
a lot of news coverage and thus efforts by our elected representatives to respond.
The students have chosen a bill introduced in the Senate called the Campus
Accountability and Safety Act, which will reform how universities respond to sexual
assault cases and provide funds for survivors and training for staff. They
partnered with postcard.com to create a postcard campaign found at http://postcard.com/join-a-movement/28.
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