We had about fifeteen mothers come to the Art Showcase. That was about 40% of the parents of the students we worked with on this project. It was a great turn out. We had the mentors bring them to the various stations where the students were ready to share what they had made. A few of the volunteers and mentors asked the mothers what they thought of the project and the biggest concerned hey mentioned was safety.

Bullying is a big problem. Students, boys and girls get beat up often. There is a lot of pressure to "be tough". The mothers do not feel like thier children are safe - even at school. It seems there is a level of violence that is now acceptable. I don't think the adults, teachers or administration are aware of how damamging these environments are in the development and the openness children are to learning and growing. 

We all noticed it as well. It is common to see boys hitting girls, name calling and fights over the smallest hint of unfairness. It is common to have the students yelling at adults, peers, as well as parents or teachers yelling at students. I have seen it all as I have been at the schools over the past year. 

Safety, bullying, violence, intimidations, manipulation, power, respect, they all may sound pretty normal but pair them up with a densly populated urban community and tensions are expotintially higher. Reckoning is committed to seeing these young, primarily muslim students, learn how to live peacefully with one another. Isn't that what we all want?