It probably sounds crazy but think about the benefits of “not knowing what you don’t know.” Understanding the full scope of an issue takes years and over time, that expertise can fence off the most basic questions and unconventional ideas.
If those who possess such “wisdom” genuinely absorb the perspectives of aspiring young changemakers, this intergenerational collaboration can oxygenate the novices and experts.
See how you react to “The Classroom, 2025,” exhibited by the Museum of Contemporary American Teenagers. Do you feel your synapses responding differently as you read the abstract of this art installation created by Alex Weiss, Mia Melton and Lois Proeller? (The photo above does not include the sound with the school announcing a drill.)
“My first lockdown was in elementary school. I was 8. We all hit in a corner, confused, scared, and not yet understanding that this would become all too normal. From the time my peers and I entered elementary school, we participated in various safety drills: Fire drills, weather drills, and shooting drills. We learned how to make a classroom look empty and how to find the best places in the room to hide. We grew up in a culture where school shootings were a regular risk of going to school.
It isn’t fair that our learning environment should come with a danger of death every single day. We beg for help and are ignored and when something horrific happens, all we get are “thoughts and prayers.” We don’t get change. We don’t get safety. We get politicians with their heads in the clouds. We get adults too obsessed with their Second Amendment rights to realize that their stubbornness is killing kids.
I hope that with this installation, adults can at least understand a fraction of what students have to go through. This is our reality, 12 years of our childhood. A constant and looming threat of mortality shrouds our foundational years. In a lockdown, the walls close in and the classroom has never felt more like a jail cell. You look around at your classmates, not knowing if these are the people you’ll spend your last moments with.”
Especially issues that directly impact children and young people, it is almost unimaginable to make policies about them without them – especially because they don’t have a graduate degree!
Please share your comments because the more perspectives the better!
– Wendy S. Lesko
Youth Infusion 