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Re: RAT Columbine
Rats-in-Arms:
I have just spent the last hour reading about 70 RAT e-mails on Columbine. I
have found some provoking thoughts and ideas, and just can't help but add a few
of my own.
I was talking to a friend of mine who grew up and went to a Maharishi high
school, where all the students meditate twice a day, and she said that all the
students in the school were recognized by someone every day. That there weren't
days when a student was totally ignored, or left to fend for themselves. I have
this vision of a place where young people learn, and are gently guided and not
forced into any structure that tells them what is cool and what is not cool....At
my day job I work at a youth center called United Action for Youth (UAY). I do
art and theater with kids ages 12-18. There are only four rules, the first being
Unconditional Positive Regard. The second is no coming under the influence of
drugs/alcohol, third, no smoking on the premises- adults and youth, and fourth,
no drums before 5:00 p.m. so the office staff can think clearly. I have been
there for three years and have begun to be able to witness the beauty of
Unconditional Positive Regard, or UPR as the kids say. It means being respectful
to everyone that comes to UAY just because they are a person. Just because they
are human. In the youth theatre troupe I direct, I have often had the
circumstance where there will be kids from different cliques all having to work
together- they got to school during the day and act one way with each other, then
come to rehearsal and need to work as an ensemble and have respect for each
other. I've heard statements like, "I never thought you would talk to me
before," or "I really like seeing what you're like outside of school." Some of
the kids have a hard time with the concept of Unconditional Positive Regard.
They say, "What you mean I have to be happy all the time?" No, just respectful.
What's great about it, is that the kids police themselves, and if one says
something that is mean/hurtful/or on the verge, another will pipe in with,
"That's not UPR." You know it's real bad when all of a sudden a kid starts
yelling, "UPR! UPR!" That's when one of the staff will jump in. Some of them
will say, I wish everywhere was like UAY. Or, sometimes they get angry and say
that the real world is not like this. And they are very right, it's not. Can
you imagine what high school would have been like if the first rule was respect
for each individual, each person? Even if that had been the rule at every day
job I've ever had....I've had the opportunity to watch some kids make amazing
transformations, and I like to think some of that had been them coming to the
youth center. One young woman who now is 17 that I've known since she was 14
told me the other day that she wouldn't have had anything positive in her life
without UAY, and would not have seen the need to be positive, and show respect to
people...So, I think where I was first headed with this is that at the Maharishi
school they believe that enlightenment starts with the individual, then you go on
to enlighten everyone else. And I've been thinking with Kosovo, and Littleton,
What can I do? I think I've come to: How can I be peace? How can I make
peace? I think it starts with me, in every daily interaction, whether I am at
work where the model is Unconditional Positive Regard, or at Quick Trip getting
gas, every moment is an opportunity for me to act into peace. Oh my, this has
gotten a little long...as with many of you I have spent a lot of time thinking
about this...I'm not sure who it was, but in one of the posts said something
like, envision utopia, then move towards that (sorry to misquote.) Littleton has
reminded on a deep level how important it is to know that every person has
value. Just because. Just because they Are. I strive to extend that out with
my experience and with my art, to show respect and value for each life...not
contrived, and not just for lip service....
Mara McCann
Graffiti Theatre