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In my opinion and from my experiences in life, the only policy that actually helps students grow past bad behaviour is restorative justice. I’ve been suspended before, so I know first hand that it does absolutely nothing for either the student or the school. It annoyed my mom, gave me a day off to play video games, gave my teachers extra work to help me catch up, and the next day I was back with not a single lesson learned. If the point of schooling is to shape students into smart, loving, and mature adults, then yelling and suspensions causes only regression. On the other hand, restorative justice does the complete opposite. It helps students understand what they did, why it matters, and how to do better next time. I believe in this, because I’ve been through it and really felt an inner change when a teacher took the time to talk to me like a human. #StudentVoices

When a punishment is meant to hurt someone in some way or form, you’re only teaching them to conform out of fear of punishment. Punishments like suspension or expulsion only feel like the school’s way of getting even. These forms of punishment don’t prevent future infractions. I remember in my high school, they would send people home for violating uniform policies, wearing black sneakers instead of black dress shoes was an absolute crime. It happened to me once, but my mom snapped on my principal, so I got away with it for all four years. When it happened to other students, you’d see them lingering in the area, smoking, hanging out, definitely not learning their lesson. That’s the problem right there, schools are so focused on enforcing rules and punishing students who violate them, that they can’t even teach you why they exist. That’s not education, that’s control, and it only makes rebellious spirits want to rebel even harder.

This is what learning looks like when a student gets suspended:

This type of punishment is a classic example of a power imbalance. School faculty hold authority over students, and students are just expected to be submissive. During these instances where students break a rule, schools go from being a place of learning to institutions of control. A punishment like suspension reinforces this power imbalance, protecting those who hold it, and silencing those who don’t. Educational institutions should be only that, rather than a battleground between authority and rebels.

Learning Activity 3.5, Task 3: Who am I?

The most present influence from other cultures in my life is food, and with over 9,000 restaurants in my city, could you blame me? I will literally eat everything, sushi platters, jerk chicken, shawarma wraps, schnitzels, poutine. It’s not just the food I’m consuming, but the culture too, with spots like Daldongnae where me and the boys learn so much about Korea just from talking to the servers. Every meal comes with a side of culture whether it’s learning a couple words in a new language, or the entire history of India from a drunk guy at Tamasha. Food has always been the easiest and my favourite way to step into someone else’s world.

The scene of my life is shaped a lot by fashion and entertainment as well. Clothes, music, and self-expression are the core of how I live my life. I might pull up to a Korean Karaoke spot dressed in Japanese streetwear, or train at the gym in Thai boxing shorts.

Once you indulge in hobbies from other cultures, the fashion kind of just seeps its way through the seams of your life. Music does the same thing. You can’t listen to as much punk rock as me and not let it change the way you dress, talk, and think. Entire playlists consisting of U.K. punk will have you dressing in ripped skinny jeans and black leather jackets during the hottest Toronto summer days.

Let’s not forget about how important architecture is to the diversity of a city. I spend a lot of leisure time downtown, and every building I pass tells a different story. You’ll see a glass tower right next to an old worn down Victorian style townhouse. I’m typing this out from a brutalist library next to a century old church. This contrast is not only cool to look at, but is a physical example of cultural diffusion. Where else can you see two completely different buildings, from two completely different cultures, stand right next to each other? It is said that tradition and modernity often clash, but Toronto proves otherwise. Just like our social environment, our city’s buildings are diverse and adaptive.

Growing up in Toronto and being completely immersed in a multicultural environment for twenty-three years has shaped my identity and honestly the way I view the world. Seeing people from every corner of the world build and share communities has made diversity not just a part of my life, but an expectation. My best friend is Filipino, my girlfriend is Persian, and my go-to dinner place is Kinka Izakaya #sushi4life. You don’t notice how multicultural things are until you step back and realize not everyone grew up like this, but looking at the stats makes you realize Toronto really is a cultural mosaic. 

Toronto wasn’t always as beautifully diverse as it is now. Since I was born, the percentage of residents who identify as visible minorities has grown from around 40% to over 55% (City of Toronto, 2021). The amount of migration and acceptance of other cultures has completely reshaped the way Torontonians live. Although I grew up in a marginalised neighbourhood, not everyone in Toronto did, so the norm of diversity that I’m used to could be a new concept to other citizens. 

Although diversity is not only present but #thriving in Toronto, there are still issues within our general demographic. As time progresses more and more of us are retiring, or having kids. We as Torontonians tend to overlook the fact that about a third of our population isn’t in the workforce at all, this is a large chunk of our population that are dependent on the rest of us. 

This dependency load adds pressure to institutions like our healthcare, transit, housing, and even education. Trust me, you’d feel the effects of this pressure if you spent copious hours in the Humber River Hospital waiting room with a broken nose. In a fast-paced city like Toronto, this issue isn’t talked about nearly enough.