Dear Editor of The Harbinger,

It was refreshing to read about the Raising Awareness project that was completed for Ms. Philbin’s Silenced Voices class in The Harbinger. I too was a part of the class last semester, so I went through the same thing that Jackie Williams, Sam Dickie, and Daniela Requena went through, though not quite to the extent they described.

In her article, “Posters aim to showcase obscenity, offensive words heard in hallways,” Carey Davis did a really good job at showcasing both sides of the argument, however I found myself fully on the students’ side. The “Overheard at Algonquin” project took phrases heard around our own school and called attention to it. In my opinion, it seems like the faculty are basically saying that it’s okay to say it, just not have it written for the whole world to see and acknowledge just how much prejudice actually occurs within these halls. The main argument of the faculty was that it was not appropriate, but I believe that if you can say it and hear it without stopping it, then you can be mature enough to read it. None of us in this school are oblivious to the things said, most just tend to ignore them until they are actually confronted with the issue in ways like this.

The fact that the posters also included Sam Dickie’s personal experience with this offensive language really brought the point home on how big of an issue it is and it brought another aspect to the article and project. It was not just a project for a class anymore, it was real life. People really need to think before they speak and they need to learn it now, not in a couple years when they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Confronting the issue at this time in our lives is extremely important and the article gave a great explanation of the idea behind the project.

Sincerely,

Kristen Cooley

Class of 2017