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Anna Kiil In the last issue of the Jargon, we were blessed with an article by Nathaniel Moses-Weiner about our national anthem, in which he expressed his concern about the necessity for Jarvis students to stand to show respect for their country. I know that as students we have the right to express our opinions through the school newspaper, so I feel that if Nathaniel can have his rants published, so can I. I'd just like to say that it is truly a sad thing when people can't take a couple minutes from their day to think of something other than themselves. Sure, at 9 o'clock in the morning we're not exactly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but without this allotted time, when would we ever get the chance to be thankful? Many of us spend six hours rushing around school, then hurry off to work or to do assignments. Then we go to sleep, wake up, and start again. With our jam-packed schedules, it's easy to take for granted that we live in a country that allows us to rush around like this: free. Now, Nathaniel did make a good point: "There's no democracy in the morning's anthem; it's part of the opening exercises because the provincial government made that law that we must stand during O Canada." It does seem hypocritical to make students stand to show their respect for our democratic country. But there's a reason for the rule. You know the Jarvis school song? Well we do not have to stand for the school song and sing; we have the option of refusal. And this means that we have a school filled with teenagers who don't give a flying sh*t about the song, don't know the song, and don't sing the song at assemblies. Now, imagine that was the situation with the national anthem. We'd have a whole bunch of kids who call themselves Canadians, but who couldn't give their time or effort to lift their chins from their hands and stand up to listen to O Canada. Okay, call me crazy, but doesn't it give you a great feeling when you go to a stadium to see one of our Canadian teams play, and everyone gets up for the singing of O Canada? The whole place goes quiet, then all you hear is the song, and all you can see is thousands of people, standing together. It's times like these when you realize that you have one thing in common with every Canadian: we live in a beautiful country. Nationalism in an ethnically diverse country like Canada is a very touchy subject. Most citizens of Canada have emigrated from other countries, or have parents who were once immigrants (myself included). Many of us still feel strong patriotism for our ancestral lands, but have found a safe home here. And there are others of us who feel that patriotism is a negative thing. Contrary to Nathaniel's view, I see it as a beautiful thing that we can sit here, as I am, and argue over whether or not we should stand for the Canadian national anthem when there are wars going on all around the world in countries that aren't free. Does it not seem selfish that as the next generation of Canadians we cannot unite for two minutes of each day to silently be thankful? Maybe at least we could all have enough decency to keep to ourselves and allow our fellow classmates to show that they have some compassion. It isn't too much to ask. Please respect our writers' original works. If you wish to make use of their words, use quotation marks and footnoting. Thank you. Back to the top^ |
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