Model UN not a waste, it empowers

Jennifer Paul

As a former Model United Nations student at Huntington Beach High

School (class of 2002) and a current staff member of the National

High School Model UN Conference in New York City, I am appalled that

certain members of our community consider it a waste of time for

students and a waste of our city’s educational resources. I would

challenge any person who is of such a strong opinion to first attend

a local Model United Nations conference before making such an

unjustified claim as to say that it is indoctrinating students in “a

globalist socialist philosophy” (“Model UN is a waste of schools

district’s money,” Independent, June 12).

The aim of Model United Nations is not to promote the United

Nations exclusively but rather to encourage and empower students to

consider multiple views about some of the greatest obstacles dealt

with in international affairs and to subsequently formulate effective

resolutions to these issues through speech and debate. I am confident

in saying that no other program at the high school level offers

students such a unique learning opportunity as this, and in fact, to

shut down the program at Huntington Beach High School or elsewhere

would be to indirectly promote ignorance and intolerance among our

students in regards to real world affairs. If high school students

aren’t adequately prepared enough to decide for themselves whether

they agree or disagree with the objectives of the United Nations,

then clearly this is an embarrassment that is in no part due to the

teachings of Model United Nations.

For those members of this community not fortunate enough to have

encountered the work of this great program, I urge you to bear in

mind that Model UN students aren’t limited to the remote teachings of

outdated textbooks and re-used overhead slides. This is not to say

that neither of these approaches is integral to the success of

crucial historical studies; however, if students expect to apply the

knowledge they’ve acquired from these resources, they must

additionally begin to embrace more contemporary modes of thought as

well. Model United Nations and other such programs precisely enable

our students to accomplish this very task in contributing to the

overall aim of strengthening current and future diplomatic models for

generations to come.

* JENNIFER PAUL is a Huntington Beach resident. To contribute to

“Sounding Off” e-mail us at hbindy@latimes.com or fax us at (714)

965-7174.