Would you risk your life in order to attend school? What would you sacrifice for the chance to be educated – and what does it mean to be educated?
Questions like these were among those discussed after this summer’s All-School Read selection, I Am Malala, the remarkable story of Malala Yousafzai – a young Pakistani girl who courageously “stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban,” as her book’s subtitle details. This past weekend, the Middlesex community set time aside to talk about Malala and consider the larger implications of her situation: that millions of people around the world, particularly women, do not have access to education.
On the evening of September 26, the School was fortunate to host Adam B. Ellick, a New York Times correspondent who produces videos and writes articles about international affairs for the newspaper. Among the many stories he has covered is that of Malala, whom he met shortly before all schools for girls were closed after January 15, 2009, in the Taliban-controlled Swat Valley of Pakistan.
“I was really compelled to tell this story,” Mr. Ellick said of the school closings that would not only prevent 50,000 girls from being educated but would also illustrate the state of women’s rights in the region. “I have to make people care, so I have to find people who embody these stories.”
Through a Pakistani reporter, he met school owner Ziauddin Yousafzai and his daughter Malala – and soon realized that the poised, articulate young girl who keenly wanted an education was the protagonist he sought. “I saw it as a ‘little/big story’ – one life affecting 50,000 other lives,” he stated. Mr. Ellick made his first 13-minute film about Malala in 2009, and, as her situation changed dramatically over time, he returned to make a second video, ultimately joining the footage to form the short film, “Class Dismissed: The Death of Female Education,” which the School watched the following morning.
In Mr. Ellick’s view, three narratives can be discerned: Malala’s bravery in advocating for girls’ schools; the many women who do receive an education in Pakistan; and the lessons he learned from this reporting experience. “Malala’s story raises many questions, including that of risk,” he observed. “When is risk admirable and when it is foolish?” If the bullet that struck her had a slightly different trajectory, he pointed out, she and her story would have suffered the “silent death” of most news reports.
Regarding the broader issue of women’s education, Mr. Ellick worried that some might assume that the defeat of the Taliban would solve this problem – “the pen is mightier than the sword” idea. “But if you go around the entire country of Pakistan, 90 percent of the women are not in school, and there is no Taliban there,” he stressed. “So, militants are not the only obstacle to women being educated.”
While he appreciates journalism as a creative profession that offers the potential to make a difference, Mr. Ellick also learned the grave responsibility a reporter has through Malala’s case. “Putting the spotlight on someone can make them a target, and it’s difficult to know when that will happen,” he admitted. “This story tested my loyalty to journalism, but I also have no regrets.”
The next morning, after Mr. Ellick’s film was screened, the School began to consider ways to respond to this year’s ASR, beginning with the introduction of the “Value of an Education Project” – an opportunity for Middlesex students to express what education means to them, whether in a written piece or through a work of art. Opportunities to support women’s education were also suggested, such as volunteering with Harvard’s “Girls Thinking Global” program, and as the year progresses, conversations will continue through several all-school events.