It’s me. Ms. Levin / Ms. Brody. Remember me? Because I remember you.
And if I can remember 100’s of you and even your personal medical allergies, I can imagine you must have a vague recollection of me too. First grade? Third? College? I’m sure you recall a moment.
Well hello again. You got big, and yes, I got old.
I wish we could hang and catch up, but we don’t have that kind of time.
The lesson I’m about to tell you takes many years to learn and for some lifetimes, but sadly, your generation doesn’t have that luxury.
You need this lesson now.
WHO MATTERS
In schools we beg you to ask why, but in the end, the why is just a story. A story that was created by a WHO. Even the bible had authors.
And if my math is correct…70% of you are 21 years or older now. Wow. (letting that sink in). You are adults. You have power as the new leaders of this frail world and you fill the halls of our highest academic institutions trying to solve its problems.
You have power. This is YOUR moment.
But I write you, as I worry about you.
You the real victim in this war.
You are being manipulated and have no clue that you are. You are being herded like sheep as you declare your morality and individualism over megaphones. You call for other people’s freedom when you yourself don’t even understand your own. You call for an end of an occupation that does not exist and yesterday some of you walked out of your classrooms. You walked out of the right of an education that only exists in democracies like the US and Israel. You walked out of a right many Syrian girls would kill for.
And I can feel the eye roll. Your generation does not like to be criticized and definitely not called a “sheep.” You rightfully so waive your individualism as a flag of honor and it should be noted and commended. Your generation has successfully bent society to question norms like gender. You have taught us a lot.
But it is time that you listen.
You are being manipulated and don’t even see it. You are not an individual with individual thoughts. You a follower. We all are. This is just facts. You consume 100x more than you will ever create. By just the numbers you are a follower. You are not personally witnessing. You are not a hostage in Gaza reading this now. You are a watcher of the stories of stories and your personal narrative is a collective of others. Your truth is seen through others.
That is why it matters what you listen to. You are not powerless. You get to decide WHO you to listen to, whose truth you speak. That is a big choice.
And here is the lesson, WHO MATTERS.
Do your diligence. Just because they sit at the front of the lecture hall does not mean they know. And I acknolwedge that this is easier said than done. Especially in today’s world where you can literally say ANYTHING. Even Presidents can lie.
NO generation has had it harder than yours. None. We all had it easier than you. We got to know our sources. For most of our species existence telling “ stories” was between two people. You knew the source well and communication would take time to write, digest and respond to, giving just the task at hand an air of importance. Your words mattered. Reaching a dozen people would be a feat, but now people can reach millions with a click. You don’t even need humans. My AI bot can reply just as well as I can. Better actually.
Allowing…anyone to “tell” the truth. And it turns out you can make “truths” with just a camera and confidence. That’s all it takes. And now every schmuck has a camera and everyone is posting content. Everyone needs to feel relevant. Everyone is an expert. Like everyone.
And you get all of your information from social media. Don’t lie. You can lie to your parents, but not to me. We never had that sort of relationship.
So I’m reaching out to you. SNAP SNAP. I am literally snapping in your face. You are being indoctrinated. Do you hear me David, Sydney, Elijah, Sam, Claire, Max, Jackson, the list goes on. It is so serious that you freaking elementary school teacher had to reach out. And I fear most of you are not even being indoctrinated by the USA. China owns TikTok. They own you. They own your thoughts of “freedom.”
You are being radicalized and you don’t even see it. You think you are scrolling and making choices about what matters, no that is an algorthim from China making choices for you and they like you BOTHERED. You upset = more time on their app. You are just a follower and the choices you are making are scaring the adults in the room, this one included.
This educator is sick to her stomach.
So I beg you to look at WHO is telling you their story. Is it a democratic country that gives rights to all people or a country that is run by a terrorist group that calls for the destruction of an entire people based on their religion. Does the WHO deny its own people basic rights? Does the WHO teach love it its schools or hate? Is it a country where its leaders live among them and protect their people? Or a country where the leaders live billion dollar lives overseas as they let their people starve and die?
PEOPLE MATTER. Stories Don’t.
I hope my voice matters. I hope this is a voice you can trust.
So sit those asses in that chair. Do not walk out for a ceasefire. Do not allow yourself to be herded. You are a student of mine. You are a student who KNOWS better. This is your moment to decide what humanity stands for in your reign of the world.
This is your moment.
Sit tall in those seats.
if there is one thing that Jews value is education. Go question! Go inspire! Go invent the cure for cancer. I’m convinced that one of my students will do that💕. Go learn.
Make your teacher proud by sitting down and raising your hand:)
❤️
Ms. Levin
Ms. Brody
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