2008 Woodie Awards
The amazing invisible student
Jonah Raskin, Communications Chair
Issue date: 3/15/06 Section: Editorial
Maybe you have seen him. Or seen her. Then, again, maybe you haven't. After all, it's difficult, if not impossible, to see the invisible. Yes, I know that thousands of students attend SSU. I see them everyday. I see the faces of the editors of this newspaper in print, students actors on stage and athletes on the baseball diamond. And yet increasingly, I have noticed that students are becoming invisible in all kinds of ways. They are disappearing from classrooms - simply not attending, though attendance is a requirement. When they're not in class, of course, I can't and don't see them.
And even when they do appear in class, inhabiting their bodies, they act as though they would like to remain unseen and invisible. They do not want or like to be called upon, to have to speak, or express an opinion, tell a story, or describe an event. Then, too, they would rather not make themselves visible on paper.
Time and again they would rather not disclose anything substantial or significant about themselves. The idea of making "I" statements, of writing, "I believe in God," or "I believe in America," or "I love anarchy," seems to be foreign to many students.
In part, high schools are to blame for student invisibility. Teachers in many high schools do not expect students to stand out or stand up. They discourage students from making "I" statements. So students arrive at SSU with years of training in how not to reveal or disclose. That high school experience has often made them feel unseen and invisible - as though they don't exist, as though their experiences and opinions don't matter and don't count. They're just a number.
Student invisibility also seems to be a product of parental philosophy. Indeed, many parents tell their sons and daughters not to stand up, or stand out, or make trouble, but simply to be polite, finish their education and get their degree.
Those high school students who arrive here brave enough to speak up and speak out in class often find that they are struck down by teachers. At SSU, they learn to remain invisible about controversial subjects like affirmative action, abortion, the war in Iraq or date rape. All too often at SSU, teachers only want their students to think critically about certain approved topics, not others. Genuine critical thinking - critical thinking about all sides and from all positions - takes real intellectual integrity.
And even when they do appear in class, inhabiting their bodies, they act as though they would like to remain unseen and invisible. They do not want or like to be called upon, to have to speak, or express an opinion, tell a story, or describe an event. Then, too, they would rather not make themselves visible on paper.
Time and again they would rather not disclose anything substantial or significant about themselves. The idea of making "I" statements, of writing, "I believe in God," or "I believe in America," or "I love anarchy," seems to be foreign to many students.
In part, high schools are to blame for student invisibility. Teachers in many high schools do not expect students to stand out or stand up. They discourage students from making "I" statements. So students arrive at SSU with years of training in how not to reveal or disclose. That high school experience has often made them feel unseen and invisible - as though they don't exist, as though their experiences and opinions don't matter and don't count. They're just a number.
Student invisibility also seems to be a product of parental philosophy. Indeed, many parents tell their sons and daughters not to stand up, or stand out, or make trouble, but simply to be polite, finish their education and get their degree.
Those high school students who arrive here brave enough to speak up and speak out in class often find that they are struck down by teachers. At SSU, they learn to remain invisible about controversial subjects like affirmative action, abortion, the war in Iraq or date rape. All too often at SSU, teachers only want their students to think critically about certain approved topics, not others. Genuine critical thinking - critical thinking about all sides and from all positions - takes real intellectual integrity.