#bringbackourgirls (and not the ones you think)

Yesterday an 8th grader came up to me and said "Ms. Cardwell, when are we do going to do something for those Nigerian girls?" At first I was touched, but then I thought about the fact that this very child (who I love dearly) fell asleep during my class the previous day.  Actually, she didn't just fall asleep, she made a conscious decision to go to sleep.  In preparation for their senior trip to DC I decided to show the 8th grade the documentary The Nine Lives of Marion Barry and talk about the idea of Barry as a tragic hero.  As soon as I turned off the light, this student put her legs up on a chair, moved her arms into the inside of her sweater, leaned into the arms of a classmate and went to sleep!

Apparently, she was dreaming about kidnapped girls on another continent because she woke up wanting to make a poster and put it on Instagram.  We had previously read an article about Boko Haram, and the kids were seeing the hashtag #bringbackourgirls on Facebook and other social media. I was excited that my students were interested (8th graders are notoriously self-involved), but I wondered if anything we could do would make any real difference.

Hashtag activism is good for increasing global awareness, but can it really do any good?   Does it exist just to make us feel virtuous, or does it allow us to ignore issues that we actually have the power to influence (where was the #bringbackaffirmativeaction hashtag)? Let's not fool ourselves, all of our  reposts and 'likes' did not bring this issue to the attention of the United States government; they knew about it.  The most that we can hope for is that increased media attention will  motivate U.S. intervention, but is that really what we want?   Military intervention  is a short term solution, and it may make the situation worse.  Islamic fundamentalism thrives on the idea that the United States cannot mind it's own business.  Furthermore, it is important to remember that Nigeria is a sovereign nation with the strongest economy in Africa (or the second strongest, depending on who you ask).  Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote has announced a plan to invest billions in rice and sugar industries in order to combat the poverty that often makes fundamentalism appealing to people.

Instead of focusing our attention on being cell phone revolutionaries, we need to direct our energies toward changing what is under our control: the fates of our own girls.  On a daily basis American girls are exposed to a culture in which women are defined by their sexuality.  In my school, 7th grade girls talk about the who has seen the latest "sex tape" in which a 40-something mother is hanging from a shower rod.  My 6th grade girls use their newly learned ability to analyze metaphor to talk about the significance of Beyoncé "drinking watermelon" (when I heard their interpretations, I was almost impressed by their ability to deconstruct figurative language).  My friend Amin reminded me that our girls are exposed to television shows in which the loudest and most obnoxious women get the most screen time, and women treat each other as rivals instead of as potential allies.  Regardless of age, race, or social class, on television female friendships are depicted as shallow and secondary to romantic relationships.  Increasingly violence with female perpetrators is seen as entertainment.

Yes, we need to be aware of and concerned by the rise of Islamic fundamentalism throughout the world. Perhaps, if we had paid more attention to the 1998 bombings in Tanzania and Kenya, September 11th could have been avoided.  As a mother, I have empathy for the parents of those girls who were kidnapped, however,  I am equally concerned with how the self-esteem of those closest to me is being held hostage by the culture of rap music and reality television. On a daily basis I am stunned by girls who trade insults that cut like knives, and slap at each other with hands that still have the plumpness of childhood.  I am bothered by girls who seem to take no pride in the appearance of their classwork, and speak to adults as if they are auditioning for a role on The Real Housewives of The Children's Storefront.

This assault on the self-worth of girls negatively impacts their ability to take advantage of the educational opportunities afforded them in this country.  They may not be held against their will in a forest, but in many ways they too are lost.  We should devote our energies to supporting  and investing in all girls without pathologizing or seeking to save them.  A hashtag cannot undo a problem that has taken centuries to create.