Year 7s Gain Inspiration

to Write Protest Music

by Karoline Kuti, teacher of Music/Music Coordinator

Being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and really understand life from another person’s perspective is difficult for all of us but necessary in order to better appreciate how we, as a community and as an individual, can make the world a better place. The Human Rights Arts and Film Festival youth forum was the perfect way for the Year 7 class to learn about this.

Through the wonders of virtual reality games, students were able to become third-world farmers faced with hardship and difficult choices, government officials granting or denying refugee status, or life in the Manus Island detention centre. These opportunities to place oneself in another person’s circumstance gave many students insight and greater understanding of what life can be like for others. When asked what this experience taught them some students commented, “It is very difficult being a third-world farmer.” “The world is not fair.” “It gives you a really good perspective.”

Hearing people speak about the ways in which they help the community, the issues they have faced themselves and the joy they experience from volunteering and helping others was eye opening. The opportunity to raise questions and hear from the people creating change directly was very empowering for the Year 7 cohort. Many students engaged in the Q & A session, asking very mature and considered questions. One student commented afterwards that, “It is very interesting to see how different cultures can come together but are all so different.”

If watching a documentary about underprivileged girls from West Baltimore developing the drive and determination to succeed in life wasn’t enough, then having the opportunity to meet one of them was. Having the chance to ask Tayla Solomon what it was like growing up in that environment, how the goodwill of others has shaped her life and where these opportunities have taken her now was very empowering and inspiring.

The Year 7 class was fortunate enough to spend some time with Tayla and able to gain an insight into the effects of what volunteering and helping others can do. Meeting a real person who has experienced serious hardship and has been offered a new life through the help of strangers made the concept of giving and helping real for these students.

Sitting on the train heading home we heard many conversations about what the students learnt throughout the day but one student summed it all up by saying, “I realised today that you don’t have to be born awesome, you can become awesome.”

We hope that the insights gained from this experience will inspire some creative protest song-writing in the weeks to come.