Speak Up!

For much of my life, I have obediently followed the barking orders of my teachers, the advice of my family and friends, and of course, the trends of the crowd. I never thought to question the reasoning behind these people's commands or the examples they purposefully set out for others and me to follow. When my first grade teacher told our class to clean out our desks, I immediately opened the cover of my faded red desk and began organizing.

As we furiously sorted through the contents of our desk, our teacher slowly marched between the rows of students, stopping every so often to harshly ask a cringing child whether or not dirty and used tissues belonged in a clean desk. When she finally reached me, I meekly stood by the side of my squat desk as her shadow fell upon me. One quick glance at her chiseled, cold face told me that I had failed to reach her high standards for cleanliness.

"Why are those pieces of rock sitting in your desk?" she slowly asked.

Blushing, I stammered, "I . . . I thought they looked pretty . . . and could be used for art."

"Did I not say before your desk is meant only for books, papers, and other school supplies? Who said you could bring them into class?"

I stared at my shoes and tried to think up of an intelligent answer.

The two-way conversation soon eroded into a one-man yelling match with my teacher declared as the triumphant victor. "Throw those stones away, and don't ever let me catch you bringing junk into my classroom again" were her final words.

At that point, I should have risked the timeout punishment and pointed out to my teacher that she was stunting the natural growth of a child's imagination and ripping apart that child's self-confidence in all future artistic endeavors as well. Instead, I meekly dropped the pebbles into the waste bucket, too scared to even sneak the beautiful stones into my book bag.

Too often, we accept the processes of our lives without question or doubt. We assume that life must be played out in such a manner, or that it simply isn't worth our time or energy to right the wrong. After all, even though such a wrong may continue to hurt others in the future, the hurt will no longer affect us since we've moved on.

Playing the part of a polite guest and being tactful by reserving your comments for a more appropriate time later doesn't necessarily amount to a sin. Yet, playing the part of a fearful or lazy guest and turning a blind eye might very well be considered a sin.

When a blatant wrong or error presents itself in our faces, shouldn't we at minimum warn and inform others of its presence? Yet, even people here fail to carry out that simple task. Fear of speaking out against a professor, superior or institution often limits a person's ability to constructively criticize. Even worse, laziness, apathy, and indifference inhibit people's ability to recognize and take effective action against problems they see.

If something or someone is lacking in a course, send an email or point it out in the course evaluations. Although you may never take that course again, other students may have to and would surely appreciate a less esoteric textbook or a more organized precept.

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If a social ritual or event appears to harm more people than it benefits, speak up. Tradition doesn't necessarily amount to worthy of continuation. If the administration makes a misstep, point out the error so that in the future, such events can be avoided. Waiting for someone else to first point out the obstruction only increases the problem's effects. No place is perfect, and pretending a place is perfect doesn't make it so.

As human beings, we should maintain a sense of courtesy and respect to other beings and entities, but we need not avoid issues simply because we are afraid of speaking out against others.

Acknowledging problems and deficiencies in one's own home can be painful and embarrassing, but doing so is essential to its wellbeing. Anna Huang is a sophomore from Westlake, Ohio. She can be reached at ajh@princeton.edu.