Increasing Our International Awareness
During Tuesday’s Assembly, Principal Hassan entered the Assembly Hall to announce a tragedy: a local policeman known to many within the Exeter community was shot while responding to a situation in Brentwood. As we have done after several previous tragedies, we all put our heads down for a moment of silence to express our condolences. The man, a father and coach at Exeter High School, was shot and killed, and it is depressing to know that in a country where guns are legal and supposedly safe, such shootings and tragedies are happening frequently. I appreciate the school for bringing this matter to our attention and making us realize just how close we are to the harsh realities of life: a death within just a few miles of Phillips Exeter.
Tragedies strike the world everyday and everywhere. However, all too often it seems that we pay far too little attention. Even huge-scale tragedies such as the recent Sewol Ferry incident in Korea left most students here affected. Korea has one of the highest international student rates, and the Korean community here at Exeter is quite large. Nevertheless the tragedy in South Korea remained mostly unaddressed on campus. I went to Assembly the Friday morning following the tragedy on Tuesday night expecting to see Principal Hassan or someone give a moment of silence to those who were affected by the Sewol Ferry accident. A week passed, and another. May 13 marks approximately a month after the tragedy, and I have heard nothing of the sort at Assembly.
Ms. Knapp, Ms. Morse and some Korean students did organize an event regarding the tragedy. Although they met and discussed for less than an hour, it was better than nothing and brought some attention to the tragedy in Korea. There was a Facebook event made for this gathering, to which as many Exonians as possible were invited. The yellow ribbon, a symbol of simultaneous hope and sorrow that prevails, was also significant in the event. It was a good way to unite Koreans and other students in mourning this terrible tragedy.
However, the tragedy and subsequent gathering on campus was not recognized as a significant event by the majority of the school community. With nearly 300 dead, the accident left Korea in deep misery for weeks. With regular television programs being cancelled and concerts being postponed, a majority of Koreans were reminded of how such a tragedy affects the entire nation. In fact, the effects still remain; all out-of-school trips have been cancelled by the Administration for Education in Seoul “out of respect.” And while Korea remains under a sullen atmosphere even now, there seemed to be barely any recognition of it at Exeter. The accident was ignored because it did not immediately affect the lives of the majority at Exeter. There should have been some more awareness on the part of the school, to show that the community cares, as we have done for many other tragedies such as the death of the police officer this past week.
The Korean ferry sinking is not the only event that has gone unnoticed at Exeter. There is also an ongoing tragedy in Nigeria regarding some 273 schoolgirls kidnapped by terrorists on April 14. Even the United States government has joined in an active effort to find the missing students by deploying drones into the area. Nevertheless there has been no sign of awareness for the event on campus at all. While other schools are creating campaign videos to help end Nigeria’s violence and inequality, in which women suffer the most, Exeter has done nothing so far to my knowledge. If there has been anything done, why haven’t I heard about this either through email updates or the vast social networking systems?
Exeter values individuals’ consciousness of their surroundings. With such a diverse community, coming from dozens of countries, there are certainly some people affected by almost any global event, whether it is the Korean ferry accident or Nigerian schoolgirls’ kidnapping. But we, as students, are too engrossed in what happens in our immediate everyday lives, which seems to be the opposite of what we as “global leaders” are meant to do. Rather, the school should look into raising awareness of events around the world. Of course we can’t bring up a tragedy before every Assembly, but some events should be brought up on a school-wide scale. Why? Because to my surprise, it seems that many students do not care about major disasters unless they directly affect them, and as “non sibi” Exonians, we should.