We are more than just a product of our town or our city.

In this era of ever-present social

media, we are given countless opportunities to understand the perspectives of people from

around the world, so we can have complex and rich views of issues, but instead we all seem to be

moving toward narrow-minded, biased perceptions. My way of combating this trend is through

an initiative I began and became very passionate about, “Window into the Week.” Every

Thursday, I share a current issue in the news that I think is important for students to learn about,

in an unbiased and well researched way. I was expecting to just teach my school community

more about current events, but I actually learned quite a lot about myself.

When net neutrality was in the news, everyone I knew was talking about how different

the world would be. I decided to research this topic to understand more about what would

happen if net neutrality no longer existed. I could tell that this issue was very important to my

classmates, so in my presentation I added the contact details of political representatives

throughout Rhode Island and gave students a general message they could share. I’ve found that

many students are willing to tweet or post about an issue, but not do much more. My hope has

been to inspire students to research issues they care about and share their passion with people

who are in a position to make a difference, such as politicians. I believe it is especially important

for high school students to begin to develop their own voice and feel comfortable sharing their

opinions.

While the net neutrality Window into the Week was a particularly successful one that

truly engaged our student body, I was most passionate about my first Window into the Week: the

#MeToo movement. This issue was all over social media, and inspired people around the world

to share their stories. However, I found students didn’t know how the movement started. Tarana
Burke started the movement over a decade ago, for unrepresented and underprivileged women of

color affected by sexual assault. Since then, the #MeToo movement has transformed and

unfortunately, the attention has shifted away from the women who arguably need it the most.

There are so many powerful stories that are glossed over by the regular news cycle. That

is why I created Window into the Week; to try and give a more complete picture and engage my

community.

In the past year, Americans have had to grapple with school shootings, immigration

crises, and devastating natural disasters, all of which have been sensationalized and

under-reported. These stories must be shared in a way that is factually accurate, so they that are

given the respect and gravity they deserve. When the news vans roll out and the journalists stop

asking questions, it doesn’t mean that the problem has been solved, it just means that the

country’s attention has moved on. Even when an issue makes it into mainstream media, facts are

often missing or skewed and credible sources that tell the true story are swamped by

sensationalized articles that pull the focus away from the actual issue at hand.

Window into the Week has helped me understand that I want to be a part of positive

systemic change in the world and has hopefully helped others to learn more about important

issues. My goal was to present information to help people connect in a multi-faceted way,

improving our understanding of the past and present to guide us in the future.

I believe we are all connected as global citizens and if I can, in my own small way, begin

to bridge the gap between people to foster diversity and inclusion, I will feel fulfilled.