If You Really Knew Me..

My friend Karen told me about this show on MTV called "If You Really Knew Me". It's a show that films a group of students that are involved with a program called Challenge Day. Challenge Day is an organization that goes into schools to speak against hate, promote diversity, and to show kids that it's okay to be themselves. For the episode I watched, they filmed at Putnam City West High School, in Oklahoma City.

Here's the show if you want to watch it:

http://www.mtv.com/videos/if-you-really-knew-me-ep-104-putnam-city-west-high-school/1645378/playlist.jhtml

Here's info about Challenge Day:

http://www.challengeday.org/index.php


The show was really funny in some ways. It showed the different stereotypes: the jock, the brain, the class clown, the homecoming queen, the loner. These were the same sort of stereotypes that I had in high school, and some of the kids, especially the homecoming queen(every time she spoke, I wanted to roll my eyes and say, "Seriously?"), stayed true to form. Lots of snarky comments were made in my brain.


As the show went on, you got to learn about what those kids were *really* going through. The class clown's(Malcolm) story really struck me. He was always really funny, making jokes, etc. What you didn't know is that he doesn't know where is mother is, and his grandmother, who he was really close to, died suddenly. After I heard his story, I totally lost it.


The end of the program showed the kids trying to apply what they learned, and it was kind of cheesy.

I think the Challenge Day is a great idea, in theory. Kids these days are total jerks, and alot of them could do well to know what it's life to be in another person's shoes. They spend most of their time pretending to be something that they're not, and by the time they get to be adults, they don't really know themselves. In that respect, the organization can work.

The problem is what happens after the day is over. They do offer a "Next Step" workshop, but not all the kids involved get to go to this. It's just like church camp: You go, have an amazing time, find God and what not, have the "mountaintop experience", and then what? The kids that don't get to go to the workshop; what happens to them?

I really wish they had a program like this when I was in school. I did go to a large high school, so I wonder how effective it would have been. I just wish that I had an opportunity to really get to know alot of people, and have them get to know the real me.

So, in an effort to be more honest, here are three "If you really knew me" things:



If you really knew me:

* You would know that I am probably the most judgemental person ever, when it comes to looks, but I do it to not have to talk about my own body esteem issues.

* For a long time, I hated all African-American men.

* As much as I dislike Oprah, I'm really bummed that I'm not famous enough to go on her show, and it's ending soon.

What about you? What three things could you share. If we *really* knew you?