24
opinions
november 14, 2012
Racial divide reflected by classroom seating Anqi Gao
Managing Editor Instead of desks, my AP English Language and Composition classroom consists of two long conference tables with a wide gap in the middle, where my teacher stands. The first time I walked into the room, I chose a side and stuck with it. So did everyone else. As I sat at the table with classmates who also had dark hair color and monosyllabic last names, I realized that the kids around me were all Asian, and that many of them were my close friends. On the other hand, the line of faces on the other side looked distant, unfamiliar and, as I noted later, white. Given the choice to sit wherever we wanted to in class, we of course opted to sit with our friends. In a senior AP English course, seating charts seemed elementary. After all, we were all polite toward one another; we simply sat with those to whom we felt closest. This decision, for the most part, was totally subconscious; rarely do I walk into a classroom and spend a significant amount of time contemplating whom I’m going to sit next to. The racial divide in classrooms is a social issue that builds from the friendships that we form. I instinctively sat next to the other Asians in the class because they were my friends, not because they
were Asian. Like breathing, it’s a choice to which we don’t give much thought. But perhaps we should. Most students comfortably dismiss the racial divide in classrooms and social areas. Why disrupt an arrangement that allows us to confidently share our opinions when teachers tell us to “discuss with your neighbors?” I would love to offer the standard multicultural answer: that “exploring other cultures” is good, that segregation in the classroom shuts out potential perspectives, resources and friends. I should tell you that everyone should have a friend of every race and that we should all hold hands and celebrate our unprecedented racial and ethnic tolerance. But of course, nothing is as simple as that. Real life isn’t “Pocahontas.” Students identify with their race as much as any other trait, be that personality, appearance or anything else. As much as we’d like to help it, we will all judge a book by its cover, even if just a little bit. To amalgamate everyone into a single homogeneous group of multiculturalism is an impractical consideration, and to tell someone to “explore an exotic new culture” is condescending, if not racist. That does not mean, however, that we should consider a difference in race to be any more than that: a difference. Letting the so-called “racial divide” block us from potential relationships is illogical.
I would not, however, bridge a racial divide just because it exists. Forcing diversity for the sake of diversity only creates awkward relationships and unnecessary discomfort. On the other hand, students should not let race prevent them from making new friends, forming new relationships or having a classroom discussion. Many would regard racial divides to be a big issue, one that is as difficult to fix as it is to understand.
Such an approach is exactly the opposite of what we should promote, though. To regard the problem as daunting only makes it more difficult to solve. At South, where even the word “diversity” has more than one meaning, it certainly shouldn’t be seen as such. When I go to class tomorrow, I will sit next to someone from the opposite table. But I will do so not because of their race, but because I want to meet them.
graphic by David Gorelik
Homework-free weekend misses the mark Dina Busaba
Sr. Opinions Editor I spent my homework-free weekend just as I would have spent any other weekend. I saw friends, caught up on sleep that I missed during the school week and did some homework. Yes, I did homework during the homework-free weekend. But maybe that was just me; perhaps most of my fellow students spent the five days frolicking with their friends, unaware that school would be upon them with full force in a short time. It’s more likely, however, that most students had some foresight to realize that the so-called “homework/stress-free weekend” had its catch-22s. In theory, the homework-free weekend should have been a positive experience for students. The idea was a good one, formed with good intentions. In reality, it didn’t work. I’ll admit that the homework-free weekend did help me in that it gave me the opportunity to catch up on work. When it came to the classes that don’t check homework regularly or assign work to help us outside of class, I rarely did the work when it was due or relevant. graphic by Maggie Zhang
The homework-free weekend allowed me to focus on this outside work to learn the material we had covered in school. The weekend also could have been a chance for students to learn more responsibility. Instead, it gave them a free pass to slack off. Transitioning back into school was hard because the homework-free weekend felt somewhat like a vacation for us. Not only was it over a three day weekend, but the effect of coming back to school after a three day hiatus from any form of work came as a shock to students. It’s like coming back to school after a week of vacation not remembering how to write an essay, solve a math equation or take history notes. Spending the weekend lounging or partying or doing whatever is good only if you get eased back into the stress of school. Instead, we smash back into a wall of essays, projects and homework. Another problem was that many teachers were not fully aware of the terms of the homework-free weekend. Some teachers didn’t recognize what was going on because they don’t check their emails; some claimed they forgot. It seemed like some teachers faked forgetting so they could assign whatever work they wanted. Yes, the homework-free policy stated that teachers should not pull the long-standing tradition of assigning twice as much homework for Wednesday so that their schedules stayed on track.
How well this clause was enforced was a different story. Even after Sandy passed through Newton, many teachers were quick to compress their once spread out assignments into a small time period to make up for lost time. If a hurricane couldn’t stop the process, what made the administration think the homework-free policy would? Such practices are most common in higher level courses. Many of my friends said that AP teachers thought they were exempt from the homework-free weekend because of the course level. These students complained to other teachers who later emailed Mr. Stembridge. The entire homework-free weekend started more problems than it resolved. For students, it’s frustrating to be promised no homework but then have teachers find a loophole. The loopholes caused more problems and even more stress for students in the long run. Students who were expecting to have an actual “homework-free weekend” were greeted with the same work they had avoided on the Tuesday they got back, now with only one day to complete their assignments. As a first attempt at this new policy, the homework-free weekend wasn’t terrible. We accomplished the first part of the decreed goal: most students enjoyed themselves during the weekend. But the setup let teachers get around the policy too easily. Hopefully, the next attempts will be smoother, and students will be able to enjoy a homework-free weekend with no stress.