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FEATURE
Index:
Feature .................................................2
Nature...................................................4
Poems....................................................5
Food......................................................6
Interview .............................................7
Art..........................................................8
Travel..................................................13
Living..................................................14
Mindfulness.......................................16
College Voices...................................18
Parent’s Corner................................19
Educators............................................20
People we admire .............................21
Educators............................................22
Parent’s Corner..................................23
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When the World Becomes Our Backyard
A
few weeks ago, our magazine
received an email from a teacher in
the Netherlands. In his desire to share
his students’ voices, Jan van de Ven, a teacher
at an elementary school in Vierlingsbeek, told
us a heartfelt story about refugee children
who are among 700 people sharing space
in a building next to their school. Coming
from war zones, such as Syria, Afghanistan,
Somalia and Eritrea, these children have been
touched by something so incomprehensible
that most of us will never experience in our
lifetimes.
Thankfully, their experiences are far removed
from our kids, many of whom have
never heard of any of these countries. In light
of the recent events and ongoing refugee
controversy, should we disturb their peace
by telling these untold stories?
From a privileged standpoint of many born
in America, this disturbance should not be
necessary. For numerous local communities
across our nation, which for a long time have
been self-contained and self-reliant, it seems
clear that children need to be protected from
a world of violence and suffering. Young
people need to grow up feeling safe and
undisturbed.
By the same token, the world today is
no longer a place where what happens
in one part of the globe doesn’t affect
another part. Our immediate social environment
has expanded radically, shifting
from families and local societies to the entire
world.
I would claim that a fragmented mindset,
oblivious to a bigger picture, cannot serve
kids well in the world where they are going
to live. Young people today require preparation
to deal with such prevalent issues
as poverty, energy crises, disease, and yes,
above all, human conflict. No one nation can
tackle it alone.
To strive, humankind needs world citizens
capable of taking actions on matters of global
importance. Veronica Boix Mansilla, a principal
investigator in the Global Studies Project,
Harvard Graduate School of Education, links
living in the 21st century with the need to
develop a global self - “identity and sense of
belonging to see ourselves as participating
actors in a rich global matrix.”
Arina Bokas
Kids’ Standard Editor
& The Future of Learning Host
To be sure, in the world of tomorrow, our
growing generation of digital natives will
collaborate, adapt, and interact cross-culturally
with people from all over the globe. In
doing so, they might cross their paths with
those of the refugee children’s, whose stories
seem so removed from us today. The ways
in which their lives might intertwine and
touch each other could prove to be beyond
our wildest dreams.
Sensitivity to perspectives and feelings of
others is a prerequisite to form successful
relationships of any kind. By giving our children
the gift of a different vantage point, we
are giving them the lens through which they
can take a deeper look at themselves. It’s all
part of our world, part of humankind, and
indeed, part of us all.
STUDENTS’ STORIES
Tasnim, 11, Syria
There is a war in Homs (Syria). The police
killed my dad. We fled because there were
tanks and guns. I saw a girl crying all by
herself. Now, I learn Dutch very fast! We
play outside and, like in Syria, we play soccer
together. I would like to become a doctor
for babies.
Aggelos, 11, Albania:
My dad and my mom come for Albania.
My dad died. We went by bus from Albania
to the Netherlands. I live in the asylum
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