Putting things into perspective

As the end of my schooling life nears, I feel increasingly sad and nostalgic that such an enjoyable and rewarding chapter of my life is coming to a close. This is a feeling shared by many of my peers. We finally realise that we will miss the daily banter with friends, chats with classmates and discussions with teachers.

But how things could be so different. Were we not born into Western liberal democracies which value education as a right for all children, this feeling may very well be absent. Not least because so many of us would never have had the chance to even experience the wonders of an education system in the first place.

That's a sad reality of countries like Pakistan, where girls in some areas are banned by the Taleban from attending school, and where, just last week, 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head and neck, simply for her opposition to this denial of education.

Malala was a girl who, for some time now, had advocated bravely and effectively for girl's rights to an education. She has written blogs for the BBC since the age of 11, was part of a documentary about the struggles she and her peers face, and been the face of the campaign for educational equality in a plethora of ways. We complain here in New Zealand that teachers do not listen to us enough; Malala's story shows just how much worse things could be.

In some tribal areas, female literacy is reportedly below three per cent. Yet here in New Zealand, far too many of us are more worried about what food is put in our school canteen. This act of violence should serve as a marking stick for New Zealand youth; a lens of perspective.

Such is the shock of the unscrupulous and dastardly attack upon Malala that it may prompt the greatest moves toward educational equality and general equality in Pakistan. Since the shooting, thousands of Pakistanis have taken to the streets in support of Malala. There is hope that this swell in public sentiment will provide the political will for the Pakistani government and the prominent military to crack down on Taleban control and make further advances for the cause of women and their role and rights in society.

A former Prime Minister of Britain, Gordon Brown, has launched a petition through the United Nations, demanding that all children worldwide are in school by the end of 2015 - which will be handed to the President of Pakistan, Asid Ali Zardari, next month. We must hope that this wave of opinion is acted upon, but also actively speak out, online and in New Zealand's media generally, in support of Malala's cause.

Because, while this has had such a profound effect on those who have knowledge of it, it still feels as though it has not been acknowledged for the severity and urgency it deserves in countries not affected by it, particularly I have noticed, amongst youth.

Very few of those sitting alongside me in my classroom are aware of the violence and inequality that exists in classrooms admittedly very far away. But they are actually so close to us when we consider that we too could be sitting in them were it not for our luck in the lottery of birth.

Similarly, when we turn our attention to the content of the US presidential election this year, it appears that coverage is so self-absorbed. We are a world that cares primarily about what is happening within our own borders, and to people who were born within them. What has dominated the foreign policy sections of the presidential debates thus far, is not the plight of young women such as Malala, but it is focused almost solely on whether (and how) President Obama should have done more to protect the four Americans killed in Libya last month.

Regrettably, debate hasn't centred around how conflict in Libya and neighbouring countries affects their citizens. It hasn't addressed how conflict has affected them in such injurious ways, always placing them in danger and the constant denial of basic rights that occurs for citizens like Malala in nations across the globe. It has centred around American lives and American affairs.

This lack of mainstream moral outrage at such a tragedy is a sad indictment on society today.

As students in New Zealand, we should take it upon ourselves to use the chilling example of Malala Yousafzai as an indication of how privileged we are in New Zealand, but also as an indication of how much progress there is still to be made outside the confines of our own country.

James Penn is deputy head boy at Wanganui High School and is captain of the New Zealand secondary schools debating team.