social explosion

we are on strike.

for the past week or so there has been rumblings of trouble emerging from the high school level. as early as last friday, schools were gated and gates barred with stacked chairs and desks to prevent entry, the outsides of the buildings covered with signs decrying the government. The high schoolers are protesting the costs of national college entry exams, student transportation, and, most importantly, the localization of public schooling. during the pinochet regime public schools were shifted from the control of the national government to that of the municipalities. this has resulted in a gross distribution of resources much like we see in the district system of the united states. quite obviously, there are regions that are funding their schools adequately, and there are those that are vastly underfunded. for the past two months i have been volunteering in one such school, and i can assert that the situations are awful: 40-50 kids to one teacher at the first grade level, minimal discipline, hardly any resources...the kids are lucky if they do manage to learn. so, the high schoolers are calling attention to the broken promises that the past few governments have made to them by boarding up their facilities and taking to the streets. private high schools also joined the fight, saying that regardless of their own financial situation, more equal education should be available to all.

tuesday, the pontificia universidad catolica de chile took to their markers and drawing paper, uniting with the highschoolers in a show of solidarity and bringing the university to a screeching halt. since then, protests, marches, songs, posters, (as well as grills with hot dogs and burgers) have been in high supply while classes have not. since each individual department votes daily to decide if they will continue to support the strike some classes have gone on, albiet with suspiciously low numbers. each campus (i have classes on three of the four) has its own distinct way of participating with the strike. san joaquin, the largest campus, has been home to several loud marches throughout the campus, as crowds move from one location to the next shouting and singing. campus oriente, home to both music and art schools among others, has a hippie-love approach, and the posters adorning the gates and walls here are certianly the most appealing. casa central, closer to downtown santiago, has gated up all of its entrances but one and posted aproximately 564849 security guards around it. there has been scattered violence in the downtown area, including random and senseless burning of objects that has lead to unnecessary teargassing and the detainment of about 700 people (hey, sounds like michigan state).

the government, ministry of education, and student organization representatives met yesterday. the students will continue to strike until an agreement is reached, expected some time friday.

The most impressive part of all of this to me is that people, the entire country in fact, are actually paying attention to a bunch of high schoolers. i cant imagine this taking place in the united states, not only because i dont see high schoolers uniting on a national level (or even a state level) for a common cause, but also because no one would pay attention to them even if they did. our country is too apathetic. also, the rich people just wouldnt want to share the educational resources of their trust fund babies with the rest of the country.

i find it fascinating to be here during all of this, although when the metro conductior tells everyone to shut the windows of the train so that tear gas does not get in i do feel a bit strange.

ps. its june! where did my life go?