Earlier this month, the attack on the Parisian newspaper Charlie Hebdo rocked the European continent. As news of the tragedy unfolded in newspapers across the globe, the issue hit even closer to home for one of our boarding students.
Junior Tia Tay hails from France. As she attended her morning classes at Darlington on Wednesday, Jan. 7, two masked gunmen fired 50 shots at Charlie Hebdo employees, killing eleven people.
Why.
The weekly newspaper had published a satirical cartoon of the prophet Muhammad—a forbidden tenet in Islamic scripture. The Muslim extremists who attacked the publication are an example of the perpetual clash between religious extremism and Western free speech.
A few days later, Mrs. Yarborough, one of our Teaching & Learning specialists, some students, and I were discussing the recent events in France. Most of our students did not know what had transpired. As Tia simultaneously grappled with her studies at Darlington and the events going on in her home, her classmates did not understand. Some knew vague details; others knew nothing. This spawned the development of a project intended to enlighten our student body about the current world crisis, and to inspire them to use technology to learn about the world on their own.
With the partnership of the Teaching & Learning Center, we contacted Tia’s parents about Skyping with my U.S. History classes. Tia’s father graciously accepted our request.
The big day arrived. Prepared questions in hand, my students walked into a classroom in the Upper School library, ready to sit down and talk to Mr. Tay from his office in France. Mr. Evans and his A.P. Government class joined our discussion. Throughout the two sessions, other faculty members dropped in, including Mr. Braun, our French teacher, who was able to momentarily communicate with Mr. Tay in French, Mr. Peer, our Director of Upper School, and Mr. Bell, our Head of School.
Although there were periods of delay due to shaky Wi-Fi connections, the sessions virtually went off without a hitch. Mr. Tay began by explaining the events of January 7th as he saw them. We learned that as the attack unfolded, he and Tia’s older sister were on their way to downtown Paris for the first day of the Winter Sales. Her mother, a toothache raging in her mouth, was on her way to the family’s dentist—two blocks away from Charlie Hebdo.
Although Mr. Tay did not actually see the streets in the aftermath of the incident (he got caught up at work and never made it to the Winter Sales), his wife pushed through the crowd to see her dentist. Fortunately, she was safe. Despite not making it into the city that day, Mr. Tay was very informed on the events. As junior Savannah Dempsey noted: “It was nice to hear it from a firsthand source.”
He moved on to answer student questions, and the discussion shifted to the terse relationship between France’s mainstream population and its Muslim sector, which live on the outskirts. Kurt Moore, a junior, asked: “Has the attack worsened the discrimination against Muslims in France?”
Mr. Tay offered up his own opinions on the matter. He believes France needs to focus on educating this sector of its population. As it stands now, there is no education enforcement in the Muslim communities, so instead of attending school, many Muslims in France enter into a cycle of crime at a very young age. He offered up an instance in which he brought a few Muslim boys from Algeria to work with him one day. About thirty years ago, Mr. Tay moved to France from Ghana. He is a self-made man, owning several businesses in France. He wanted to show these young men how they too can make it. In order for the relationship between the mainstream French population and the French Muslim population to change, however, Mr. Tay believes that more of this type of education needs to happen.
Our Skype session brought a historical event to life. After logging into Skype, we were immediately transported to France. From the comfort of our library, we could speak face-to-face with someone across the Atlantic. Darlington’s international student body provides a wealth of opportunity for teachers and students to use in their classrooms. The world changes every day, and we are fortunate to have access to students and parents around the world!
