“You and me against the world,/Sometimes it seems like you and me against the world.”
The lyrics of the 1974 song describe an attitude that may seem familiar. As adolescents, we sometimes felt detached from the people around us. We imagined they were different, and thought of them as adversaries rather than friends. Would it have helped if we knew more about them?
A student group at the middle school believes the answer is “yes.” The kids, who are members of the No Place for Hate Committee, have come up with a way to make things better. They’re creating a display called “Humans of Cornwall.”
The title and the project are not original. The kids were influenced by Brandon Stanton, who has attracted millions of followers for his photographs and interviews of people on the streets of New York. His blog, as you may have known or guessed, is entitled “Humans of New York.”
But the middle school project has its own direction. It began with the students creating a questionnaire, which they’ll use for interviews before the first instructional period of the day. On March 14, the committee members surveyed one another to gain experience. It took them about 10 minutes to get all the information they needed.
The committee members won’t be sharing entire interviews with the general public. They’ll select the answers to one or two questions and display them on a bulletin board next to the main office.
The people being quoted can remain anonymous. While a picture will accompany their response, it doesn’t have to be a picture of them. It can be a photograph of something they consider important.
The committee will display six interviews at a time, and will change the bulletin board often. That will give several kids a chance to be interviewed, and will keep the student body looking at the board to “meet new people.”
The goal is to help students realize it’s not them against the world. The truth is we’re all in this together.