Education in Context: Empowering Youth in a Culture of Silence
The day started out like any other: I was a college student on vacation and was scrolling through my Twitter feed when I realized that in place of inside jokes and pop culture debates, my feed has filled with tweet after tweet of confessions, people blowing the whistle on their experiences with sexual assault at the hands of their fellow schoolmates.
In reference to the events, a classmate tweeted “Streets dey hot o”, which is pidgin for things are getting heated. That was no understatement.
For nearly an hour, I stared at my screen, transfixed in shock and horror as I read recount after recount of sexual assault that had occurred in my social circles, at parties, on campus, and in people’s homes. My horror only grew when I began to recognize some names, realizing that some of the accused were people I went to school with. Shock turned to anger, anger melded with heartbreak, and for a while, I had no words. Then I began to wonder.
If it was the case of one incident, I’d simply point to the perpetrator. But when story after story kept rolling in from high schools across the country, it became evident that this was no small thing — it was a systemic issue affecting an entire generation of students (not to mention generations past).For how long had this been happening? And how did this issue spread so widely and go unnoticed? How do we make sure no student goes through this again?
The uproar was so loud it made its way to news sites, where some parents learned of their children’s experiences. But rather than help their daughters, many punished them — in addition to what they were going through, some were also penalized for speaking up.
As heartbreaking as that was, it was no surprise to me. Nigeria has a strong culture of silence, where many topics including sex are written off as taboo and not to be spoken of under any circumstances, the idea being “if we don’t talk about it, they won’t engage in it.” Unfortunately, that assumption is so, so wrong, and judging by what had just happened, an absence of discourse on sex and topics like consent simply made way for skewed notions of the two, thus creating an incubator for sexual violence.
I applied for a research grant, intending to take a closer look at this issue as it pertains to education.
My guiding question was this: what do you do when a culture is part of a problem? Can education be used to combat that problem?
Given the time and financial constraints of the grant, taking this study local was not an option, so I decided to get creative. After hours of research, I decided to conduct my study in Barbados. Barbados, like Nigeria, is a society where silence regarding gender-based violence is prevalent, and local myths take the place of sexual education. Despite this, in recent years, the UN has partnered with over 20 local organizations to tackle the lack of adequate sexual education in schools, and several programs are being implemented to provide an opportunity to educate the youth on this sensitive topic.
Why Barbados?
Barbados’ sociocultural environment is West African with post-colonial British influences, similar to Nigeria.
There is a prevalent culture of silence.
It’s a lot closer to the US : )
These factors were incredibly important to me, because I realized conducting research in a starkly different environment would likely limit the cultural relevance of my findings, and I wanted to learn how to develop educational systems that are also sensitive to cultural contexts and environments.
One thing I was really hoping to learn more about was to create educational systems and programs in places around the globe where silence is a cultural norm. I think knowing how to navigate culturally sensitive topics that are often seen as taboo areas of discussion is incredibly important, as it is a skill that will help ensure that I can facilitate discussions that respect cultural values while diplomatically treading the lines between cultural beliefs and social movements.
My grant was approved, and over the spring break, I spent 5 days in Bridgetown, where I wandered the streets, sampled local dishes, tried very hard not to get lost and interviewed locals and NGO leaders alike on their experiences using education to combat gender-based violence and how their adapted their educational material to the socio-cultural contexts of their audience.
Lessons
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Without formal sex ed, young people tend to seek out information themselves. Or it finds them. For example, rum shop owners and ‘uncles’ are common sources of information in the community. Given that they usually encourage street harassment as “a way to get girls”, it’s evident that community misconceptions are a key part of the issue, and it’s important to find, target, and intervene with the sources of misconception.
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Barbados is a relatively small nation, with a population less than half that of Wyoming, the US’ least popular state.
Although it’s a relatively small island its youth have different lived experiences — you don’t have to walk very far to find vastly different realities. That’s why an adaptable curriculum design that accounts for each school’s needs is important.
Example: some schools have adults who teach, while others find that peer educators are more effective in connecting with and educating the students. In some schools, it’s cool to be knowledgeable on sex ed and consent, while other schools look down on it. One size does not fit all, even on one island.
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Given the culture of silence, it’s unsurprising that many parents do not want their children talking about sex, even within a classroom setting. My sources found that the most effective way to combat parental pushback is simply with facts — you can’t fight data.
Sharing statistics that show the effectiveness and positive impact of sex ed is a great way to turn opposing parents into staunch supporters. This means that data collection is an important part of the program — implementing surveys and other evaluation methods helps to generate helpful and relevant statistics in support of the program.
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The irony of this work is that it cannot be done in isolation, and requires collaboration with the very society that often contradicts and opposes the sex-ed programs. In addition to the politics of implementing social justice programs, partnerships are a key aspect in ensuring the continued support and longevity of a program. These partnerships can take different forms; in religious societies, partnering with faith-based organizations is key to ensuring support, and is incredibly effective given that they are also a sphere of influence in the community. It also means working with local organizations and influential members of the community.
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The secret to a successful program is in its design: how the program is tailored can make or break its success. In this case, the key to success is ensuring that the audience — the students — are heavily involved in the design and implementation of the program. Working with the students to create and structure the curriculum, teaching practices, and material will ensure that the program is up-to-date with evolving social trends and provides relevant and engaging material for the students. Other best practices for effective design include constant revaluation and feedback gathering from students.