Not Just a Number
To be just a number takes the individual human element of suffering away. When faces and names are put with those numbers, the issue becomes real. To hear the stories of Chouchou and Acėphie in Paul Farmer’s “Pathologies of Power,” those statistics about individuals in Haiti who perished due to AIDS and political violence become real. We hear the actual stories of how they came to suffer and the real pain they went through. In America, recently we have heard of the number of people killed in mass shootings and our press within a day or two posts the photos of victims and their lives’ stories. We hear of the great things they had achieved, the heroism, and their sacrifices. When we hear these stories and see their faces, we identify with them more and can sympathize, which in turn brings awareness, conversation, and sometimes change to the topic. In 2012 a young Pakistani girl named Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head on her way home from school by a Taliban fighter after her identity was found out. She had years before become vocal anonymously on a blog about the blight of young women in Pakistan being kept from an education. She survived the assassination attempt and it received worldwide media coverage. The media played a major role in Malala’s rise to fame where she had become a vocal advocate for female education across the globe, especially in Muslim countries. She later became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Putting a face and name to the topic brought awareness.
Structural violence is the root to all violence. It starts at the top and trickles down through war, policies and laws, ignoring truths, and encouraging and spreading ignorance. To end suffering is out of the hands of individuals, it is up to the community to change how people think and act.
Learning disabilities are very often overlooked and the child is simply labeled as a bad student. The students that I work with have been lucky to be diagnosed, but for many it took years of failure, disappointment and being bullied and harassed by peers. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ended structural discrimination on paper, however, many schools still come up short providing proper assistance and placement. School districts have for years struggled to keep a balanced budget and of recent, are in very bad place. These budget shortfalls directly affect students with disabilities by not funding placement in other programs, limited time with specialists and over-crowding of special day classes with little or no assistance of an aide. A large percent of the students who attend my school are funded by their school districts and this year our numbers are way lower than the previous 10 years which I have worked there. Districts are attempting to keep the money and placing up to 30 students with disabilities all in the same class with one instructor. This model is not conducive to a proper education for these students.
By parents fighting for their children and educators raising awareness to this problem, maybe politicians will see the horrible financial situations most school districts are facing and direct funds to better support the future leaders of tomorrow.
