I agree that we are better off in many aspects and many students need to realize that. I believe that the serious problems facing the the ones who lived 200 years ago e.g. starvation, made them a stronger and more determined people. One of the factors that I believe exposes today's generation to worse situations is the easy access to such things as bomb making directions. If you hate someone or you hate yourself, you have better access to materials which could quickly destroy the object of hatred or yourself.
The museum can certainly contribute to the growth of young people. I was able to deal with problems in school e.g. bullied, picked on, talked about; through artistic expression and becoming more involved in academic extracurricular activities. My mom also taught me the beauty of being who I was.
The museum could certainly help students to express themselves artistically and teach them the problems which plagued the past generations, which will show them how superficial this thing of being popular "at all costs" can be. To tell you the truth, being unpopular has helped me to grow into a person who doesn't mind being different, and being different has kind of led me to the art museum profession. Some of the best geniuses of history were different.
Sincerely,
Merri
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