Annual "armband experience" helps students more fully recognize that prejudice, racism and discrimination still exist in society today.
Certain areas of the NDPMA campus were designated as ‘no armband’ zones, where students with yellow armbands were not allowed.
According to Shari Phillips, who teaches religion in Notre Dame's upper division, this has been part of the school's social justice course for nearly 15 years.
"The armband experience is an experiment that allows the students to experience discrimination, albeit in a minor way," Phillips said. "But still it helps them to better understand our course unit on prejudice and racism, and also helps them to better empathize with those who still face these challenges today. Those students who wore armbands today were not allowed to enter restricted areas, speak to authority members, and had to complete any ethical task requested of them by an authority figure."
Ethan Carino, a senior who is taking the social justice class and who wore an armband on Friday said it was a powerful experience for him.
"While watching and reflecting during the day, I couldn't talk to teachers and just had to take in what was going on and how it made me feel," he said. "These types of events help students not just see, but feel what discrimination is like. They get a better understanding of how it impacts others because it impacted them during their day."
Phillips said there are certain rules that designated students who were wearing the armbands must follow, including:
Notre Dame senior Ethan Carino wore an armband on Friday, Feb. 15, during ND Prep’s annual armband experience day.
• Designated class members must obey all “NO ARMBAND” areas in the building. These include bathrooms, drinking fountains, doors, lunchroom lines, tables, desks and chairs.
• Designated class members must never look directly at any member of authority. These would include administrators, teachers, staff, and other social justice class members who are not wearing armbands.
• Designated class members must never initiate a conversation with those in authority and, when spoken to, must respond with “yes, sir” or “yes, ma’am.” They may never question an authority figure.
• Designated class members must complete any (ethical) task given to them by those in authority. These tasks may include, but may not be limited to, carrying books, opening lockers, standing in lunch lines, holding doors, assisting with the drinking fountain, cleaning up lunch tables, disposing of trash, cleaning up the floor or cleaning whiteboards. However, the task should never ridicule the individual or be ridiculous.
After the armband day concluded, Carino reflected further, this time on the bigger picture and the state of race relations in this country.
"Through hard work and virtue, racism has declined in American society," he said. "But there is still much work to be done; we must always be diligent in noticing and stopping racism in any and all of its forms."
MORE ON BLACK HISTORY MONTH (2018) AT NOTRE DAME.
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org