Shannon Leoni
shannonl@isb.ac.th
Next week in Advisory, we will focus on the topic of “Words Matter.” The goal of our time together next week and throughout the rest of the semester is to celebrate and embrace our diversity through self-respect and respect of others and to empower our students to be an ally by speaking up against harmful words and actions.
During the course of the week students will have the opportunity to watch a few short videos related to the power of words and then engage in reflective conversations within their advisory. On Tuesday, students will watch a TedX Talk by Alexis Jones titled “Locker Room Talk. Says Who?” This video invites, inspires and educates young men on the importance of respecting women. Regardless of where the conversations are happening (the classroom, locker room, virtually or any other social settings) it is important that we highlight that young men are a large part of the solution of living in a world where all humans are valued and respected. This video is a frank, honest and inspiring video but Ms. Jones does use profanity a couple of times.
We are looking forward to engaging in these important conversations with our students in the coming week, however we understand that there may be some families that would prefer their children not watch the video on Tuesday. If this is the case, can you please send a short email to your child’s school counselor so that we can arrange an alternative activity at that time.
For those that would like to continue the conversation at home, or aren’t sure where to start with this conversation, here are a few prompts to guide:
- On Monday, we’ll discuss what it means to be an upstander. What does that look like for your child to be an upstander?
- On Tuesday, ask your student to tell you about Alexis Jones’ video and what they learned from it.
- On Wednesday we’ll discuss self-respect. What does self-respect mean to your child?
- Thursday is a student-led activity about unhealthy friendships and relationships. What could your child do if they feel concerned about a friend impacted by one of those?
- Friday we’ll discuss further what it means to be an upstander and watch a few scenario videos. Please ask your child which scenario stood out to them and why.
For any questions, please contact your child’s counselor.