The Importance Of Ethnic Studies

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I remember when I was in high school; I encountered a gruesome experience. A young girl was being beat and thrown into a trashcan by two boys and one girl. I hysterically ran to her aid and told the group of people to stop. Minutes later, security arrived and the victim was picked up and driven away. Two days later, our high school principle scheduled a mandatory auditorium student meeting. He said, that the young girl was beaten and bullied because she identified as a homosexual. I couldn’t believe it! I was embarrassed and ashamed that these students did not have any sense of morality. Is our educational system lacking the knowledge that students are constantly being abused and bullied due to sexual orientations, ethnicity and culture? Perhaps …show more content…

For this purpose, I strongly believe our educational system should mandate ethnic studies classes into all high school curriculums prior to graduation. Ethnic studies are interdisciplinary courses that train students to be able to understand ethnicity, gender and sexual differences, different from our societal view. These courses also teach the suppressed and distorted histories, but most importantly it’s an academic freedom to social justice. High school students from all over the United States are constantly being harassed and abused because they don’t look, act or talk accordingly to the idolized America identity frame. A regional source reported, “A total of 15.8% of students reported cyber bullying and 25.5% reported bullying in the past 12 months” (Schneider and others 2012) .1 Do students have to commit suicide or hurt themselves to prove that others are tormenting them? Perhaps our school system wants innocent teenagers to …show more content…

An ethnic studies program will help students identify with themselves and most importantly help them learn about others. A resource states, “Stanford university researchers looked at an ethnic studies pilot started in 2012 for ninth graders. In a report released in January, the researchers concluded such classes helped increase grades and attendance amongst struggling high school students” (Bryson, Donna 2016). 5 Ethnic studies programs help students appreciate their ethnic identity. A source states, “the NEA review of research cites multiple university studies showing that, for students of color, the more they know about race, racism and cultural identity, the higher their grades and graduation rates, and the more likely they are to go on to college” (Remnick). 6 Now check this out, “Interestingly, the positive impact of such studies is even higher on white students, who gain a much more sophisticated ethnic consciousness as they confront issues of race already familiar to minority students”(Remnick). 7 Isn’t this incredible? The future lies in front of us and in order to live in peace, people need to work together, learn, interact and respect each

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