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outdated textbooks and re-used overhead slides.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.
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