From Ignorance to Awareness: Teens explore diversity
Photo Credit: Kirsten Selstad
Sophomore Leena Younes prays at the Islamic Center of Kansas City.
April 27, 2010 • Haley Hansel, Reporter
Filed under In-Depth, Top Stories
There is no debating the fact that the majority of students share similar cultures and traditions. Although they are not represented in large numbers, there are students who come from more diverse backgrounds. These students may appear no different in the classroom, but in reality, teenagers are often actively practicing their traditions through daily acts that go unrecognized by their peers.
“According to Islamic culture, it is mandatory to pray five times per day,” sophomore Asma Mukadam said. “There are different times set throughout the day. These times change according to daylight hours. Prayer or salat is one of the five pillars of Islam.”
These daily traditions hold high importance in the lives of many students, but daily rituals are not the sole difference between cultures. Traditions among students range from daily occurrences to annual celebrations.
“After gaining our independence from the Turks, Greeks became extremely proud of their country and traditions,” senior Catherine Katinas said. “We recently celebrated Greek Independence Day on March 25. My church had a huge celebration; we sang the Greek and American national anthems, ate Greek food, and little kids recited poems. I do not think that most West students value their culture as much as I and other Greek-American kids do.”
The cultures in which these teenagers participate are not simply about rituals or celebrations. But each of these actions reinforce morals that they have already been taught.
“[Having] this type of a culture has made me very strong,” Mukadam said. “This is because of all the obligations I have to commit myself to, especially in regards to my prayers. I have to make sure that I pray on time for each of the five daily prayers.”
Along with traits that a person acquires, there are also a number of values that it teaches them.
“Greeks value hospitality, good food and family,” Katinas said. “While I am sure that those sound like things that anyone would value, the Greeks often put these first in their lives, which makes them important values to learn and respect.”
Most students do not take the time to learn about other cultures. When they lack this information, it is harder to relate to one another and understand behavior.
“There are definitely students being judged based on their culture,” counselor Kimberly Urenda said. “Several students have comments made to them on a continual basis, based on their traditions and religion.”
While some stereotypes are relatively harmless, there are a number of stereotypes that show negative and untrue aspects of certain cultures.
“Islam these days is often talked about in the form of terrorism and violence,” Mukadam said. “But that is the total opposite of Islam. We are a peaceful religion, and the terrorism is not part of our religion. The people who are responsible for all of the violence are corrupt.”
It is important for students to get past the stereotypes that are presented and figure out what information is true and what is false. By understanding a culture, it is much easier to accept it.
“Students should not just believe everything that they hear,” Mukadam said. “There is so much to my religion that most people do not understand. We follow the five pillars, and I learn a lot. Right now I am memorizing by heart our holy book, the Qur’an. It just shows that there is so much that people do not know unless they ask.”
Many students are trying to get a better idea of the cultures that are represented at BV West. By simply asking questions, they are able to have a better understanding of the traditions that these students are a part of.
“Most of the time people just ask me about my hijab,” Mukadam said. “I try to give them the best answer possible, but it is clear that many students are really trying to understand my culture.”
However, there is still room for growth and tolerance.
“There is definitely a lack of true cultural understanding at West,” Katinas said. “I’m 100 percent Greek and I’ve lived in five states and visited almost every state, so I would consider myself culturally diverse. But most students have not been to all the places I have or experienced such a rich culture first-hand, so I cannot blame them for not being culturally diverse. Panda Express, José Peppers, and even the Greek restaurant Mr. Gyros can not give West students the real culture that they should experience.”
Although all BV West students do not have this much opportunity to experience different cultures, it is important to try and relate to other cultures and open up to new traditions.
“Understanding other cultures is huge,” Urenda said. “We need to become increasingly aware of other cultures in order to learn to respect others as you leave high school. We have come a long way, but there is still a long road ahead of us in understanding diversity.”
Last 5 posts in In-Depth
- A New Perspective: BV Southwest offers a fresh start - May 7th, 2010
- Cultural ignorance leads to insensitivity - April 27th, 2010
- What's at Stake: Consider safety while traveling abroad - March 10th, 2010
- A New Take on Spring Break - March 10th, 2010
- In-Depth: Abuse more prevalent than many believe - February 19th, 2010
Video: JETV May Newscast
Loading ...
Comments
Feel free to leave a comment...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!