Spec Piece- "Avalanche"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PsLRgEYf9E

First, please take a moment and check out the video above by clicking on the link. Then read the rest!

Prince Ea- this person is so incredibly smart. If you aren't following him, you need to be! He has some great videos and based on my blog and my reasons for writing my blog I felt compelled to share this video along with my opinion because well, I think it's an astoundingly important point he is trying to make. Of course, this video can be taken in any which way and be twisted into something negative but I am not going to talk about those things. This man means well, he wants positive change, he is not afraid to think outside the box and speak out regardless of how against the norm he might be. He is inspirational. Not to mention this video needs to keep getting shared as there an abundance of power in listening and having an open mind. This video is of Prince Ea sharing his thoughts (and facts) on how the curriculum in schools need some serious updates and why. One thing that really hit home for me were his thoughts on mental health.

Mental health. For some reason, those two words put together, have always come with such a stigma attached to them when it comes to our society and especially in the school systems. I remember when I was in high school and I saw a counselor, it was behind closed doors and none of my peers knew about it. Sharing my feelings with a professional was a good thing, don't get me wrong, but it had what I call an avalanche effect. The problems had sequestered at the top of the mountain that seemed near impossible to reach and conquer. However, relentlessly and as expected, the problems manifested enough to get to the point of me needing to seek help. Once I opened up and shared my problems the avalanche started. Inch by inch, layer by layer, rock by rock, the walls of the mountains crumbled and fell like the feelings of embarrassment and shame I felt, were tumbling out of me as I spoke. Letting myself be vulnerable to a stranger was hard enough and to make things even more interesting, all of the crap that laid at the bottom of the mountain was not supposed to be noticed by anyone- as if it were possible, as I’m pretty sure I was unequivocally transparent. So, why did it have to be such a secret? Because seeking help for mental health was always considered a bad thing.

Prince Ea isn't saying that we shouldn't be taught reading, writing, and arithmetic. He isn't saying that we should all drop out and simply hope to be as successful as the famous dropouts like Albert Einstein, George Washington, and Mark Twain. He is making the point that it is so important that we start implementing classes that teach really important things for growing minds like stress management, time management, social skills, and how to handle depression and anxiety. He is saying that potential is being lost because these things aren’t being addressed and I couldn’t agree more. Mental health is a great thing and seeking help to maintain it is even greater. Who decided it was wrong and shameful to be human anyway? Does anyone know one single person who has never had a mental breakdown? Highly doubtful.

When I picture myself going to Mr. Ea’s school, I see more understanding amongst my peers. I see the bullying I endured minimized. I see myself as not feeling so alone and with way more confidence. I imagine myself in a classroom full of other students, learning how powerful it is to be loving and supportive to one another. I see a community. I see more children and teens being more cautious about how they treat others because they have been educated on the impact it has. This isn’t going to happen with just a short video that they are forced to watch once a year on bullying, but it could with reminders of it every single day. Wouldn’t you be much more open to sharing your feelings and thoughts if you were taught it was okay? That it was the social norm?

One thing that Prince Ea didn’t mention in this video (and I am sure he would agree with me), is that the schools are where everything begins. Think about it, these children are our future. Please let that sink in for a minute. They are our future. They are bored in school, sitting on their phones, uninterested in what they’re being taught, and stressed out to the max because the majority of them aren’t like the lucky ones with photographic memories and high test scores that come easily. What do we need for our future? We need people who are able to treat others kindly with openness and understanding. We need people who have a passion for change. We need people who rather than being forced to sit through six hours solving for “a” are sitting through a lecture on why people are different and the fact that it is okay and even more so, that it’s beautiful. Teach the basic stuff. Keep math, science, history, and geography, for example, because it is important for our future to know these things, but save the tough stuff for college. Build the children intellectually first, then focus on the training for their future careers later. As Prince said, nobody remembers what they learned anyway. They’re too focused on the silly stuff like worrying about their hair or avoiding the bully in the hallway. These worries can be avoided in a new direction.

I would love to see the avalanche effect take a new turn. With the inches, the layers, and the rocks representing the forthcoming of understanding one another. Understanding is where change can happen. We can’t be understood if we aren’t able to speak up. We aren’t able to speak up if we are taught it is bad to have a mental disorder. We wouldn’t be afraid it was a bad thing if we were all taught that it’s okay to be different. We would all be more understanding that we’re different if we were taught the different kinds of mental issues. Teaching that we’re different can explain why we’re different. Knowing why we're different breeds understanding. The bottom of the mountain will then be filled with things we can all see. We can pick them up, examine them, appreciate them for their differences, and understand that they all ventured down that mountain together.

Prince Ea #understanding #changethecurriculum #mentalhealth