Don’t Get Caught Making Education a Micro-Level Issue
Who’s responsible for your child’s education?
Anger, grief, and heartbreak are some of the many intense emotions I’ve felt these past months. Thousands of children dead. Hundreds of unmarked graves and counting. Hundreds of murders. Thousands of crimes. I think about it, and it’s hard to breathe.
Another emotion I feel is disgust. It’s not my place to speak on behalf of the indigenous peoples of Canada. I have no right to do so. But, I’ll say this. Educate yourself before you comment. Read what you plan on posting a few times over before publishing. Make sure you understand what you’re saying and any related connotations. Like I just did, acknowledge that it’s not your place and amplify indigenous voices (they exist, take the time to find them) instead. Honestly, reflect in silence.
We should take the time to inform ourselves of the more significant issues, history and current events alike, at play here. Recognize that it’s not time to jump onto social media and rant endlessly about related injustices. It took me a long time to approach this piece, but I have to say it. The education system isn’t responsible for residential schools. And today’s public schools can’t teach children everything they need to know. There I said it.
Besides, this isn’t news.
Thomas King, an indigenous author, said it excellently in an interview on Indigo’s Well Said podcast.
We’ve been talking for years to say that, you know, people who ran those residential schools were sexually and physically abusing the students. Over and over again we said that, and no one listened to us. And so now, all of a sudden, when they do – when you have the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, where you have direct testimony to that, and people are going, “Oh, we didn’t know that was happening” – well, you didn’t know because you weren’t listening.
We’re still not listening. Many of us hear what is said, and our first reaction, myself included, is to deflect blame, which I believe is a very human reaction. Or to shut down, to stop listening because we don’t want to know the truth. It’s one of two things. “I didn’t know. No one taught me about this. It’s not my fault.” And, “Please, I don’t want…
