Hoping to start a tradition of “social justice” programs every year, our school (with the generous help of the PTO) hosted Jim Keady of Educating for Justice last Friday. The presentation, describing the sweatshop conditions under which $200 Nike sneakers are made for less than $18, was thoroughly engaging. Jim Keady’s genuine, passionate commitment to workers in Indonesia gave students an example of what one person can do to make a change in the world. Any teacher would be impressed at how many students were inspired to ask questions, though it was particularly refreshing to see students take issue with Mr Keady’s representation of the issue. Yet, it’s a small detail that shows how our world is changing.
As part of the program, pre-printed postcards addressed to the CEO of Nike are available for students to sign. There was also one for Tiger Woods asking him to travel to Indonesia to visit the factories where the products he endorsed are made. He makes more in a round of golf than an average worker in nine years of making sneakers on an assembly line.
As a handful of students crowded the stage after the assembly to fill out the cards a couple asked what they should write on the lines in the top left of the front of the postcard. Even though their innocent question was met with a chorus of laughter, their ignorance is not a failure of our education system. How often do you address an envelope? How often to you click “send”?