The first Peace and Humanitarianism Day was held on Oct. 13 and gave students a chance to reflect on what is currently happening in their lives and what might be happening in others’ lives. There were four activities that students could participate in and some went over better than others. The best two were journaling and an open space discussion.
Journaling was in the main office during fifth period and Principal Meredith Inbal created an atmosphere that was really comforting for the 10-15 students who were there. She assured us that this time for journaling was our own and we could spread out in the office to find a place where we felt comfortable. She also talked about how she journals in her everyday life and encouraged us to do so as well.
While I was journaling, even though I was in a group of students in the main office, I didn’t feel embarrassed because I knew that during this moment other students had their own problems that they were writing about as well. It didn’t feel like anyone was in my business and students just got to write without limitations.
During sixth and seventh periods students could go to room 216B for an open space discussion.
Overall, this activity was really great and I felt like the sharing created an emotional bond where students could empathize with each other and share their experiences without being judged. There were some moments when there was an underlying tone of confrontation and defensiveness that steered the space toward a negative environment but it shifted back pretty quickly.
I have two easy suggestions for the facilitators: find a bigger space and start out differently. Firstly, students were crammed in and sitting on the floor. Secondly, the initial activity was Mentimeter, where everyone wrote three words, anonymously, to describe what they thought of the world. It seemed like an okay idea but there were some students who only had negative things to say and it created an unspoken pressure to not have any positive thoughts about the world.
The other two activities were peace jars and a mindful walk. The peace jars were nice and some students did write messages on paper and put them into the jars, but that was it. It wasn’t the richest activity since you didn’t really do much. Maybe next year it can be expanded in some way so that the messages can be shared.
Lastly, the mindful walk. At the beginning students were told to pair up with a friend and that we’d be walking with that person, first one sharing their thoughts and then the other, while we walked around the track. So, it didn’t work if you didn’t have someone you could really trust and be on the same level with. And in that way I found it excluded some students. Also, I feel like most students didn’t have someone like that so it just ended up being an activity where people walked on the track, fooled around and didn’t do much.
Despite a few hiccups, it was really nice to have a day where you could just let your emotions out a bit and reflect on peace or other issues in your own life and in the world. Some people don’t have spaces to do so at home and even if you do, being able to do so in school was pretty special.