HOW DO WE SEE (STUDY) YOUNG PEOPLE?

 Crip Camp was such an inspirational documentary. One of the biggest lessons for me was its strong focus on activism. The people in the documentary saw wrongdoings and pushed back against the government. Growing up, I always heard the phrase, "Closed mouths don’t get fed," and watching Crip Camp really made me think about that. The activists didn’t sit around waiting for change to happen; they created it. They saw the government neglecting their rights, trying to enforce segregation, and denying them basic access to public spaces, so they stepped up and fought back. The protests were bold, with actions like shutting down federal buildings and staging demonstrations right outside the White House.

Seeing the signs that read “Sign 504 regs” was powerful because it reminded me of my students who have IEPs and 504 plans today. These accommodations, which support students with disabilities in schools, wouldn’t exist without the individuals who led these protests. The Section 504 sit-ins were pivotal in securing the enforcement of disability rights laws. When I look around RIC and see students from all different backgrounds, including students in wheelchairs, I think of how I have admitted students with many different disabilities. Each and every student has a right to education—and as much education as they want.

In Zora: On Being Outstanding, I think the biggest takeaway is that you should not shrink yourself to fit into society. Zora had a strong sense of confidence in herself, and she did not want to change to be what people wanted her to be. This reading really highlighted the fact that schools often value structure and compliance over creativity. A good example of this is on page 22, where we see the terms “impulsive” and “lacking self-control” used from Mrs. Beverly's perspective and “fearless” used from Shalaby's perspective. This shows us that these behaviors can be seen in both a positive and negative light. I agree that we should look at students like Zora and focus on their strengths, rather than seeing their weaknesses.

When reading about Zora, I think of The Met High School in Providence. This is a school that focuses more on hands-on learning and practical life skills rather than traditional academic benchmarks. They don’t use conventional grading methods and focus more on the overall growth of the students. If a student like Zora attended a school like The Met, maybe she would have been more appreciated for her outgoing personality rather than shamed for it!

The common ground between the documentary and the article is that we should not try to be someone or something we are not. Society makes people think that if you aren’t doing what everyone else is doing, you are wrong, or something is wrong with you. In Crip Camp, we see that the people didn’t try to mold themselves to society. Instead, they fought back to show society that they belonged. Zora, rather than changing her actions to fit into the mold of others, shined brightly and was unapologetically herself. Both showed us that we do not need to fit in, in order be happy and to be a respected member of society.