Colorado Student Protest Disproves the Notion of Youth Indifference

Recent streak of student walkouts in Colorado's second-largest school district is an eye-opener to many who have long held that present generation of American high school students are reflection of so-called selfie culture, engrossed in self-promotion and insensitive to continuous changes around their world. Hence, when the conservative majority of the Jefferson County School Board proposed forming a committee last month (September 2014) as part of driving an agenda to re-write the Advanced Placement history text to "promote citizenship, patriotism, essentials and benefits of free-market system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights" and deemphasize topics on "civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law", it was thought to be a low-key, but significant, policy shift for the suburban Denver school district. Although the conservative majority of the school board anticipated some degree of howling from the district's teachers and very minimal intensity of protest from parents, it never thought of a strong organized protest from the district's youngest stakeholders. Leveraging means from the present day tools ranging from social media, mobile communications and video chats to the more traditional way of spreading message through word of mouth, the teen-age students of the Jefferson County School District were able to organize an effective, but peaceful, protest movement that sent a clear message to the board's conservative majority that tampering with the course curriculum for the purpose of promoting narrow political objectives would invite vigorous opposition. In the following days, students, joined by their teachers, walked out of  class, and parents lent their moral support to their kids' protest movement. The Jefferson County school protest against the political maneuvers by conservatives to tinker with the AP history curriculum has drawn national attention too, and coincides with a large student sit-in protest thousands of miles away in Hong Kong. The movement in Hong Kong is aimed at the authorities in Beijing for limiting the scope of universal suffrage in the 2017 polls to elect the chief executive of the island nation. Although the agendas of the two student protest movements on two far-apart continents are vastly different, there are few striking similarities between the two:
(1) Effectiveness in Focus and fervor of both movements
(2) Demand for more say in matters that affect them the most
(3) Disproving the commonly held notion that the present generation of students are more or less aloof to issues, ideas, or actions remotely related to politics
(4) Dexterity and deftness in organizing the protest movement by students without any official involvement of political establishment

The protest movement by students, teachers and parents in Jefferson County School District puts a spotlight on the importance of civic engagement in school course and curriculum issues in an era when there is a concerted drive to push radical political agenda through tinkering of school syllabi. After days of vigorous protest, the Jefferson County School Board bowed to the will of people on October 2, 2014 when it decided to form a committee, involving all stakeholders including students, parents, academics and administrators, to address the course curriculum issues. Also, the protest movement won a clear political victory during the crowded October 2, 2014, board meeting as the conservatives-dominated Jefferson County School Board stripped the so-called controversial language related to promoting patriotism over civil disobedience from the final resolution that calls for creating a panel to address AP history curriculum issues. Students in the district delivered 40,000 signatures supporting their protest from around the nation. The protest movement in Jefferson County School District in Colorado, hopefully, opens a chapter of renewed interest of student engagement in academic issues of national importance and sends a clear message to the rest of the country that it's the common people who are the true harbinger of change if they pursue with resoluteness and sense of purpose.

Ebola's True Cost Staggering

Since the beginning of the year, the deadly Ebola virus had struck West Africa with its full force of menace and macabre. The virus, first detected in 1976, has no cure or tested therapy yet, and is easily contagious through bodily fluids, saliva and blood. In March this year, the first Ebola case was identified in Guinea. In the weeks that followed, the virus swirled through Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, killing hundreds and creating a regional health crisis that these impoverished West African nations were neither prepared for nor capable of handling. So far, most of us are fixated on the medical cost of Ebola on the region and the related fear that it may spread to other parts of the continent and beyond. There is no denial that the medical cost of Ebola is more vivid and easier to see through compared to other forms of costs such as economic, social and political costs. As of August 19, 2014, according to World Health Organization (WHO) estimate, 1,229 people had died of the virus and 2,240 people were infected by the virus in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and in recent weeks, in Nigeria, the most populous African nation. On August 8, 2014, WHO chief Dr. Margaret Chan declared Ebola a "global emergency", leading to calls by health care professionals, medical experts and policy makers for a cure and fast-tracking of experimental drugs. However, much less is said about the virus' disastrous effect on economic, social and political fronts.

Economic Effect
A bleak and blighted economic future holds for the affected countries, especially for Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, as regular trade, commerce and free-flow of goods get stalled for months. Almost all the airlines have stopped flying to these three nations. There is already scarcity of agricultural produce, fruits, vegetables, meats and poultry in the affected regions, spiking the prices of basic commodities. Agricultural produces from Guinea's forested area in the southeast are already shunned, threatening the very livelihoods of subsistence farmers of the region. It's not if, but, how much the GDPs of these three nations will shrink in the short-term. It's anybody's guess how long the regional economy will be in a catastrophic morass and how deep the economic wound will inflict the region as the countries will be forced to stretch themselves thin by allocating more resources to stem the spread of the disease and treat the people sickened by the virus. The international community can't shirk its responsibility to address the issue anymore. World Bank should lead in establishing a multinational task force to:
a. Assess the scope of economic devastation due to Ebola
b. Calibrate a unified, comprehensive and collaborative response to the dire economic situation
c. Engage with financial institutions to streamline the process of disbursing cheap personal and business loans in the affected areas
d. Launch fund dedicated exclusively for serving the people in Ebola-affected areas
e. Create a position of Ombudsman to effectively manage financial aid

Social Effect
The fabric of social life has already been torn apart for the Ebola patients as they are being shunned even by their friends and families. In many cases, students who had recovered fully from the virus couldn't go back to schools, workers are avoiding fellow workers, and mobs are attacking quarantine centers, thus increasing the risk of the virus to infect more people. Many in these impoverished West African nations believe that the disease has been brought to their country by the foreign health care workers and, in recent weeks, there were incidents of attacks on foreign health care workers. The situation went to such alarming levels in some areas that Doctors Without Borders were forced to withdraw, albeit temporarily, from those areas. Many people came to think of quarantine centers as final destination of Ebola patients, and attacked such centers with increased frequency. Lack of education, primitive tribal customs and widely held superstitious belief are fueling animosity and hatred towards Ebola victims and caregivers alike. This, in turn, has created an explosive social situation in the region that needs to be addressed in a sensitive manner. U.N. agencies must engage with local entities including local governments and religious institutions to befriend a fearful populace and carry out a meaningful education campaign on Ebola virus.

Political Effect
In large part, the failure to stem the spread of Ebola virus is due to lack of any coherent policy by any of the affected nations in Western Africa, pointing to absence of a sustained and streamlined initiative by the political establishment of these nations. Democracy has not taken a strong root yet in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, making them vulnerable to social turmoil and instability. The unintended consequences of Ebola virus include a national emergency and nighttime curfew in Liberia, leading to suspension of some of the fundamental rights of the people. There is also strong possibility of regional political chaos, government instability and increased militant activity in the region. What is of particular concern is the real possibility of Ebola reaching to the northeast of Nigeria, a region with poor infrastructure and birthplace of Boko Haram rebel movement. If the virus spreads its tentacle in Borno state in Nigeria's northeast, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, for international aid organizations to deploy their people in the northeast because of the security risks posed by Boko Haram rebels. U.N., African Union and ECOWAS, a regional group, need to take joint initiatives to provide necessary political and security support to Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.

Given the multidimensional impact of Ebola, it is moral responsibility for international community to stand firm in its commitment to provide all necessary help to besieged people of the region.