Teens learn: Dialogue beats discord

MIAMI GARDENS | Summer vacation for students is often a time dedicated to sleeping in, watching television, and enjoying leisurely activities. However, a number of teens from Miami-Dade and Broward high schools had other summer plans: For one week, they fought prejudice.

They did so by taking part in the Miami Coalition of Christians and Jews’ MetroTown summer camp, held July 20-25 at St. Thomas University. The camp teaches teens how to break down barriers created by differences in culture, race, religion, socio-economic status and other social identifiers.

“MetroTown is an anti-prejudice camp that seeks to empower young people to become aware of the system of privilege and oppression, and we also seek to encourage them to let go of the knee-jerk reaction to ‘other’ people who are different from them,” said Lutze Segu, the program’s director.

Throughout the week, campers participated in activities aimed at stimulating discussion about topics that are often difficult to broach. Various exercises allowed students to better understand and express their own and others’ uniqueness.

“A pivotal night during MetroTown is culture night,” said Segu. “Delegates get a chance to highlight their culture and dispel myths and stereotypes about their group. This year we had an African-American group taking on the issue of racial profiling, an East Asian student tackling the issue of not being perceived as American ‘enough.’

“MetroTown also seeks to make the community religiously diverse and inclusive,” Segu continued. “During culture night, we had Jewish delegates explain Judaism and put on a Shabbat dinner and we also had a Christian group seeking to rebuke the notion that all Christians are judgmental and not open-minded. Represented among the delegates was a bevy of other Christian denominations. We also had delegates who were Muslim and those who were on the atheist and agnostic spectrum.”

“Youngsters say they can be themselves for the first time at MetroTown,” said Roberta Shevin, MCCJ’s executive director. “Each student matters and they come to us with their own challenges. In many cases, they realize they are not alone, but they leave feeling empowered, and are one step closer to becoming a leader.”

MetroTown’s teen delegates are encouraged to continue practicing what they learned at camp by helping to establish just, tolerant and respectful communities in their schools and neighborhoods. They leave camp with a renewed sense of empowerment, and friendships that will outlast the days of summer.

Since 2011, 150 students have participated and graduated from the program.

MCCJ was founded in Miami in 1935 as a way of promoting understanding among all faiths, races and cultures through education, advocacy and conflict resolution. It hosts the oldest interfaith clergy dialogue in the United States and presents prejudice-reducing programs in local high schools, among other activities.