Potential

One Saturday morning, I taught second year English speaking to my university students. One of my students came late and excused her lateness on the man that was harassing her on the bus. I was appalled. She then told the class two more stories about the harassment she experienced while riding the bus. I gave her some tips to deal with that. The whole class seemed curious as to why I would have tips. Apparently, harassment is very common here. It’s common in America, too, but I know many Americans who would stand up for themselves and attempt to stop the harassment. I asked my student what she did when this happened. She said she was afraid. He kept talking to her. She felt uncomfortable the whole time, but did nothing.

The students then said they’ve never been taught to stand up for themselves, excusing harassment as an everyday occurrence like traffic or bad weather conditions. I don’t think that’s right. Any kind of harassment is not okay, so I, of course, discussed with the head of the English Department about the possibility of holding some sort of workshop to teach these girls how to stand up for themselves and to teach these boys how to be allies. He seemed on board. I felt good.

That afternoon, I told one of my friends about my idea, and she doubted the potential of Indonesian students to learn how to stand up for themselves. She basically said sexual harassment is not a good topic for this passive culture. I should choose a softer topic. They will feel embarrassed and uncomfortable, and will be shy to attend. She said my students, who I’ve taught for over a year, would run away from me.

It that true? It’s hard to believe that the students with whom I’ve worked so hard to develop a relationship would run away from me just because I want to discuss a very sensitive topic. I know they will be embarrassed and uncomfortable, but this is an embarrassing and uncomfortable topic. They should feel that way. They need to be given the tools to deal with this problem.

I’ve been raised to embrace the idea that if a topic makes you uncomfortable, you should explore it. Broaden your perspective. Discuss ideas that can potentially make you smarter about the world. I know the Indonesian upbringing is not the same, but my students can, at least, learn how to think this way. As a Peace Corps volunteer, I’m planting seeds. A revolution will not happen overnight. I know this, but a lot more can happen in the next few years if I do this than if I don’t. I must try. I owe it to my Peace Corps service to try as much as I can in the next seven months.

But my friend was right. My students may run away from me. The challenge is not to make this seem like I’m blaming anyone or that I’m trying to completely change Indonesian culture, which can be passive sometimes. How can I integrate the confident, always curious perspective of the world into Indonesian culture? Sure this won’t work in every aspect of Indonesian culture, but I’d like my students to, at least, be able to stop a harasser. They have that potential.