Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Jake Frackson – An Idealist’s View on Bullying Student Voice

Student Voice:


Jake Frackson – An Idealist’s View on Bullying

“Today, thousands of youth across Canada will don pink in support of Anti-Bullying Day. Together they will express their shared view and in doing so, condemn the abuse that is bullying. But what are they really condemning? And more importantly, what do schools want to replace it with? To answer these questions, another look needs to be given to what bullying is.”
In an adult world brimming with alienation, arrogance, and animosity, it is not difficult to imagine these sentiments overflowing into the world of adolescence. As is our nature, it seems, our eye is drawn to negativity. It is the unsightly things in our lives that get the most attention. And curiously enough, these things are most often our faults, but more harmfully, the faults of others. These faults have infected the realm of adults, and have left them in a state or perpetuation. Set in their ways, adulthood appears to be a constant debate over whose faults are worse.
What bullying is, is an attempted mimicry of this. This negative view on life has spilled into the innocence that was youth. The optimism that characterized the young has become tainted, and with this 

Prashanth Ramakrishna – Why The Millennial Generation Needs to Redefine Sustainability

Originally posted : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/prashanth-ramakrishna/why-the-millennial-genera_b_2658910.html
Achieving sustainability as a state of existence should be our number-one global priority. In fact, unsustainability is a product of what the world perceives to be the most pressing issues of our time. Conflict, resource scarcity, industrial takeover, economic disparity, and government partisanship represent only few global predicaments that have created an unsustainable world. Despite the true multidimensional nature of sustainability, modern society has fallen into the impractical habit of equating “sustainability” with “environmental stability,”two terms that are not, by any means, interchangeable. This ideological blasphemy has become an omnipresent pestilence so toxic that it has broken even the strongest pillars of sustainability. The U.N recently pinpointed seven necessary questions that need to be answered in order for the world to be sustainable during the much-anticipated and very disappointing RIO + 20 summit in Brazil. As expected, nearly all of these questions are centered on eradicating environmental malpractice:
  • “How can we provide access to clean energy for everyone, and make sure that the energy we 

stuvoice-12
This Wednesday at 9pm EST, Student Voice is co-hosting a Twitter chat with the Parent-Teacher community focused on providing them with an understanding of how they can empower and work with the student voice.
The Student Voice movement strives to create an international network of empowered students by providing them with the tools they need to use their voice in policy discussions. While we are students working for students, the support of adult stakeholders – educators, parents, policymakers – has enabled us to take our movement above and beyond what we could have ever anticipated.
This chat will serve to unite the key stakeholders – parents, teachers, and of course, students – during one Twitter chat, so that they can discuss with students ways to enhance and empower the student voice. It is time for the students to not only have a voice, but also a seat at the table and we need everyone’s help to make this happen.
Join us on Wednesday at 9pm EDT / 6pm PST by using and following the #PTchat hashtag.
After the chat, continue the conversation with students by using the #StuVoice hashtag and by joining students every Monday night at 8:30pm EST for their weekly Twitter chat.
Fostering tight-knit community relations where all parties’ perspectives are valued is essential. We hope that you will join us as we bring these stakeholders together. Bring your students, bring your children, bring yourself to the chat. 
Parents, teachers, adults – click here to stand with students by joining the Student Voice movement.
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Key Twitter hashtags: #PTchat and #StuVoice
Key Twitter handles: @ZakMal and @Stu_Voice
- See more at: http://www.stuvoice.org/2013/02/27/tonight-stuvoice-and-parent-teacher-chat/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tonight-stuvoice-and-parent-teacher-chat#sthash.wR0u4Sb2.dpuf