My Thoughts on... Social Justice
What is social justice?
Why is it important for our classrooms?
While searching for a text that either explains or embodies social justice, I found myself at a loss for finding something I truly felt did the phrase justice. I decided to look at the opposite side of the question to find an article or book and found myself coming back to a book I have shared before. The novel SOLD which I have talked about in a previous blog post. This book to me is social injustice. The book travels through the world of a girl getting sold into the sex slave trade in India. These young girls are forced to be raped many times a day and are imprisoned for the rest of their lives (which is not that long considering the fact that they can contract diseases from their encounters). These girls have not chosen this life, they are stolen, tricked, and sold into this life with no way out but death. This to me is social injustice. Social injustice to me fits into many categories and not just this one, it can be in law and in social situations and more. Anytime the wrong type of outcome comes from a highly concentrated argument or situation, that to me is social injustice. So then what is social justice? To me it happens as well within SOLD, when the girls are rescued from the slave house by an American organization geared to save these girls. This part to me is the biggest and only example of social justice within this book and is an example of social justice because it is the right outcome to a bad or highly concentrated situation. This type of construct is a very important thing to include within a classroom because it brings forth a very wide topic that students will all run in to one day. I think the most important thing we can do as teachers is try to gear students up for life after school. Whatever it may be for students, some situations are unavoidable. If not using this specific text, then using some other text that explains both side of social justice would be how I would present it in the classroom. The bottom line is, students should know what social justice is, because of its importance within our society today. This text is just one of many ways to teach this subject and the severity of the subject, which is important. I chose this text because it brings to light not only what social justice is, but its contrast and in the real world. Giving real world examples is key to explaining how these terms are real and what they can do/be in real life.
Why is it important for our classrooms?
While searching for a text that either explains or embodies social justice, I found myself at a loss for finding something I truly felt did the phrase justice. I decided to look at the opposite side of the question to find an article or book and found myself coming back to a book I have shared before. The novel SOLD which I have talked about in a previous blog post. This book to me is social injustice. The book travels through the world of a girl getting sold into the sex slave trade in India. These young girls are forced to be raped many times a day and are imprisoned for the rest of their lives (which is not that long considering the fact that they can contract diseases from their encounters). These girls have not chosen this life, they are stolen, tricked, and sold into this life with no way out but death. This to me is social injustice. Social injustice to me fits into many categories and not just this one, it can be in law and in social situations and more. Anytime the wrong type of outcome comes from a highly concentrated argument or situation, that to me is social injustice. So then what is social justice? To me it happens as well within SOLD, when the girls are rescued from the slave house by an American organization geared to save these girls. This part to me is the biggest and only example of social justice within this book and is an example of social justice because it is the right outcome to a bad or highly concentrated situation. This type of construct is a very important thing to include within a classroom because it brings forth a very wide topic that students will all run in to one day. I think the most important thing we can do as teachers is try to gear students up for life after school. Whatever it may be for students, some situations are unavoidable. If not using this specific text, then using some other text that explains both side of social justice would be how I would present it in the classroom. The bottom line is, students should know what social justice is, because of its importance within our society today. This text is just one of many ways to teach this subject and the severity of the subject, which is important. I chose this text because it brings to light not only what social justice is, but its contrast and in the real world. Giving real world examples is key to explaining how these terms are real and what they can do/be in real life.
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