Editorial

Even if the “Villanova bubble” has sheltered students from many important world news events in the past, most know by now of the riots happening in Baltimore. The mass panic in the city that has recently broken out in response to mistreatment by police has left an already struggling city in absolute fear and mayhem. Children cannot attend school because it has been deemed unsafe for them to walk outside of their homes. The internet is aflood with pictures of burning police cars and rioters in the streets—numerous injuries, some of whom were innocent bystanders, have already occurred. How did it get so bad?

It’d be hard for any of us who aren’t in the city of Baltimore right now to make a fair comment on what’s happening. Maybe neither side is right, but who are we to say? All we have are stories that have been repeatedly retold. What’s really important to know about the tragedy in Baltimore right now is that it’s happening and it matters.  

Get out of the bubble. Students sometimes adopt a “too cool for news” attitude or go about their lives as if what’s going on in the world does not affect them. If this continues, then our country has a really rough future ahead of it. The things going on in any city in the U.S., or even the world for that matter, can absolutely affect the lives of Villanova students.  What if the riots in Baltimore inspire riots in another city? In Philadelphia? People should know what’s going on in the world for so many reasons, but most importantly because knowledge is power. If people know the cause of the riots or what has worked best to stop them, then maybe future incidents can be avoided. If people realized the pure frustration of the citizens of Baltimore, maybe they would have been more willing to search for a solution for them before they resorted to violence.  

Of course, news isn’t only happening in Baltimore.  Nepal just suffered one of the worst earthquakes in its history and has no idea how to recover. The country will need help and the only way to get help is by informing people of its tragedy. By knowing about it, we can think of solutions for these suffering people and even plan for future disasters in a more effective way. What comes of these disasters if nobody talks about them? If nobody were to report them, what would happen to the people there?  

As we all go home for summer break, let’s not take the “bubble” with us. There’s a lot going on in the world right now, much of it not so great, that people need to realize instead of going around like everything is just fine. The more educated people are about the world, perhaps the better it can become in the future. We should all have one major goal this summer: Leave the bubble behind.

 

CORRECTION: This article originally said that there have been “numerous fatalities” in the Baltimore riots. That was an editorial mistake and was supposed to say “numerous injuries.” It has since been changed.