Elementary Thinking

Today in class, we had a long discussion about how communities are built in certain ways to separate different types of people. Being from the North Shore (an affluent northern suburb of Chicago), I have a great deal of experience with this sort of thing. In Wilmette, one of the main dividers is which elementary school you went to. It may not seem like a big deal to people who don't live in Wilmette, since elementary school is not going to make or break your future, but to everyone from my town, it is a very familiar idea. In 5th grade, all of the elementary schools are mashed together into Highcrest Middle School, where the stereotypes begin. During my 4 years in middle school and junior high, I would hear "He's a Romona kid" or "She went to Central" probably 10 times a day. And these statements were not just being said in a matter-of-fact way, but had many stereotypes associated with them (some good and some not-so-nice).

When I was preparing for freshman year at New Trier, I assumed the 'categorizing by where you're from' would end, but, boy, was I wrong! In high school, the divisions are on an even larger scale. Instead of being labeled by your elementary school, you get labeled by what town you live in. During the first week of school, I learned a new phrase- the "Wilmetto". When I first heard it, i thought that person was just one idiot being obnoxious, but then I heard it another time. It turns out that it's a pretty well-known nickname for Wilmette used to label Wilmette as the "ghetto" of the North Shore. I actually find it pretty hilarious now, that a town that is still incredibly wealthy in terms of anyone else in the world can be called a "ghetto". From both of my experiences of separation, I learned that it will never end. However sad this realization is, it is true all over the world. I'm sure everyone has had at least one encounter with this. What was yours?

Are HISTORY and GOSSIP synonymous?

This week in class, we have been discussing oral histories. We are also preparing to start a project where we will interview someone and use their words to create an oral history. Through thinking about this project, I have started to think more and more about history and where/who it comes from. When we were younger, history came from our teachers and textbooks. We were taught to listen to these sources and believe them 100% of the time. Now, as we delve deeper and deeper into our studies, we have to wonder where this information is coming from.

 

I have been thinking about this for awhile now, and have been trying to think of a way to relate this idea to my life to put it into perspective. The parallel I came up with is gossip. Like most teenagers, I have heard my fair share of rumors. From my experience with gossip, it tends to be false in about 9 out of 10 cases. I think the reason this happens is because we tend to get our information from 1 or 2 exclusive sources and decide to listen to them blindly. If teenagers suddenly decided to start corroborating their sources and speak to 10 people (preferably who don't all talk to each other), they would find that most of what they are hearing is false.I have a feeling that, like gossip, many histories are one-sided and more of a variation on the story rather that the 100% truth.

Who writes history?

This week in class, we spent a lot of time talking about textbooks. It got me thinking about who actually writes the textbooks we read in school? Is it the author who's name is on the cover or someone completely different? I then went to google news and searched "textbooks" and one of the top hits was this article about the changes different states' boards of education have made to the textbooks they buy. I have a huge problem with the fact that only a small handful of adults get to choose what goes into textbooks and what gets exluded. Even though it would be impossible to include every event that every happened in the history of America, but I think that there are definitely a few that need to be included. Obviously the California/Texas state boards of education would disagree with me. Even though I do believe everything I already talked about, I am still a bit conflicted on how I feel about this issue. On one hand, I think censorship is certainly not a good thing, but on the other hand, I think it is each school's responsibility to decide which textbooks to use and what they teach. I'm still deciding, but have you made up your mind on this issue?

American Artifacts

This week in class, we were confronted with the (fake) "death" of our teacher, Mr. Bolos. Our assignment was to write a biography of him based solely on artifacts, interviews, and the internet. When I first heard about the assignment, I was sure it was going to be impossible to find out much beyond the basics, but boy was I wrong! His large imprint left on the world got me thinking. If one person leaves this many artifacts when they die, how many artifacts would the US leave behind (if everyone in the country suddenly disappeared)?
Take a second to think about the top 4 "artifacts" you think America would leave behind. Here's my list...

1) McDonalds- Even though it's sad that this is one of the first things that comes to mind when I think about America, it is definitely something that tells you a lot about how modern day Americans live their lives. From this artifact, future historians would gather that we are fat and eat food that doesn't ever decompose

2) Our major cities- Now, this one sheds a much more positive light on America as a whole. It shows that we are advanced and are smart enough to build skyscrapers as tall as the Empire State Building and  Sears Tower.

3) The Statue of Liberty- One of the most iconic things in America, the Statue of Liberty definitely makes sense to the majority of the American population. But, if aliens were to stumble upon Lady Liberty, they would have no clue what to make of the giant green woman.

4) The Internet- This is the artifact that completely changes the game. Since we have internet and records of nearly everything possible, future historians will definitely have a lot easier time learning about us than we did about ancient civilizations.