Fougs sent me this article via her dad in Cape Cod. This is pulled from the Cape Cod Times, and I think it's a GREAT idea!
At D-Y, students take a stand
By K.C. MYERSSTAFF WRITERSOUTH YARMOUTH -
What with the dress, the tux, and the limo, the average high school student spends $500 to $600 on prom night.
A group of Dennis-Yarmouth students - who call the single-night expenditure frivolous and ridiculous - have a better idea. Zak Jason, and other D-Y Amnesty International members, review a presentation on the crisis in Darfur. The group is planning "No Prom for Darfur," an alternative dance and fundraiser.
Members of Students Take Action Now: Darfur, or STAND, are planning a ''No Prom for Darfur'' party sometime in March. Although the date and place have yet to be finalized, the group is inviting students Capewide to skip the formal wear, updos and corsages, in favor of a big fundraising party to help stop the mass murder of black Africans in the Sudan.
''The original idea was, quite frankly, the prom is ridiculous, particularly when you think what $500 could do for Doctors Without Borders, for example,'' said Jeffrey Howell, a Dennis-Yarmouth High School English teacher and the staff adviser of STAND. This thought was reinforced when Zak Jason, the president of D-Y's student branch of Amnesty International, and fellow Amnesty member Ross Desmarais, studied Darfur for separate school projects last year. The Thursday afternoon Amnesty International discussions were soon dominated by talk of the horrors in Darfur.
''We found all these crazy statistics,'' Jason said. At this time last year, he said, there were 300,000 deaths and 15,000 rape victims. In November, several members of Amnesty went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge to listen to Eric Reeves, author of ''A Long Day's Dying,'' a book about Darfur.
''It was too dramatic to ignore,'' Howell said. Amnesty members formed a chapter of STAND the next day, Howell said. ''I was disheartened (after his talk),'' said Sarah Hodgdon, vice president of STAND. ''He said nothing will happen unless enough people get together.''
Since 2003, militia known as Janjaweed have been systemically raiding black villages, burning the houses, and murdering and torturing civilians in an attempt to drive black Africans from the area. The death toll is numbing. To put it into perspective, STAND member Connor Gramazio estimated that at the rate of 10,000 deaths a month, small towns like Harwich and Chatham would be gone in two months.
Unfortunately, the group of about 50 concerned students were met with blank stares and angry words when they tried to schedule the ''No Prom'' on prom night.
''There was a lot of drama,'' Hodgdon said. ''People said, 'What's Darfur? Why should we give up our prom for them?' The thing is, if people saw the movies we've seen, they wouldn't feel that way.''
Though the controversy got students talking and raised awareness about Darfur, STAND members ultimately relented. They now plan to hold the event on a non-prom weekend, probably in March. They are exploring venues, such as Cape Cod Community College or Barnstable High School, because they want students from all over the region to attend.
And they're hoping to raise big bucks to donate to humanitarian efforts in Darfur.
But are STAND and Amnesty members ready to give up their prom?
''We haven't thought that far yet,'' Hodgdon admitted.
K.C. Myers can be reached at kcmyers@capecodonline.com.
(Published: January 16, 2007)
4 comments:
The Cape Cod Times responded in today's editorial section and stepped up as the first sponsor of the event. Very cool.
What a cool idea. I've never understood the absurd amounts people spend on the prom. It's something like $100 just for tickets. Why? This would curb the insanity and do something good for the world in the process. And still give the students a chance to get together and celebrate the culmination of their year, which is what the prom is supposed to be about. Not the 'accessorize the limo to the dress' freak show it has become. So kudos to them.
You can accessorize a limo to match a dress? I am so there!
It always strikes me as odd, too, that fundraising events tend to be very dress-up, wear your diamonds, show off your $$ kind of events. It seems to me events like that miss the point (or, perhaps, just use people's desire to look pretty in front of others for a good cause without them having to change anything). I like the concept of using the money you would have used to get dolled up for one night and putting it to a better use. Put this in the "show this to anyone who says all teenagers are _fill in the blank with negative adjective_" file.
Maybe we should initiate a similar campaign at our school, Fougs?
IB CAS hours?
I'm willing if you are, but also I find myself spiraling down the path of doom, as in "I signed up for too much" doom. Still, what I signed-up for is not life changing for anyone except me.
Stupid conscience!
Post a Comment