Speaker’s message: Talk with, respect others Mykee Fowlin portrays different personalities who make key points

Speaker’s message: Talk with, respect others
Mykee Fowlin portrays
different personalities
who make key points

DAVE BENJAMIN He’s black, Hispanic, female, a football star, mentally challenged or just plain different. Mykee Fowlin appears in a variety of roles as he tells students at Freehold Township High School to reach out to fellow classmates and let them know people care about them.

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — He knows exactly how to get his message across to the hundreds of high school freshmen who remain glued to every word he speaks and every action he makes.

That was the scene on the stage of the Freehold Township High School auditorium on Jan. 17 as motivational speaker Mykee Fowlin drummed into the students the lessons of how hate hurts and why people have to understand diversity and accept individual differences.

He also discussed a range of issues that are relevant to today’s teen-agers.

"He has a very powerful message," said Principal Dr. James Hayden. "At times it’s a bit shocking, but the reality is that there are times that we have to deal with issues and themes at the high school level that need to be addressed."

Sponsored by the Human Relations Commission at the high school, Fowlin gets to the core of several issues that some people care not to discuss.

"This is the fourth year that he’s speaking to the students," said Linda Murchio, social studies supervisor. "I think its value is in helping the kids open up a dialogue on issues that are simmering below the surface."

Fowlin’s artistic presentation explores a variety of personalities and each experience, as it touches emotional nerve endings, teaches the audience what it is like to be someone who could be female, black, Hispanic, gay, Indian, Asian, mentally challenged or just different from both the individual who is on the giving end or the receiving end of a slur, remark, "dis" or other kind of inappropriate action or comment.

Fowlin returns to the childhood years as he shows the character of 6-year-old Jermaine and how, as a child, cursing is acceptable.

"You don’t even have to say it out loud," Jermaine explained. "You can say it inside your head."

At age 6, the character is told, "Black people can’t be president," and his mother responds, "Jermaine, you can be anything you want to be when you grow up."

As a high school senior, Octavios Malone, a football star, hits on a female student.

"Girl, you don’t need to go to chemistry class," he tells the girl. "You be the acid and I’ll be the base. We can do our own chemistry."

Then there is the football captain who announces to his friends that he is not "straight." Fowlin asks his audience if anyone woke up that morning and said they chose to be straight. "And just like you, I didn’t make any choice either," said the football captain.

The speaker tunes into what lies beneath the surface or behind the mask that hides the emotions and feelings. How does it feel to be different or alone because you’ve been abused, or because there are problems at home, or you’re pregnant and nobody knows, or you deal with anorexia or bulimia?

Fowlin tunes in to the situation of how someone’s friends may poke fun at those people who are different.

"What do you say to your friends when they start making fun of you?" he asked.

Fowlin also spoke of the April 1999 tragedy at Columbine High School in Colorado and told his audience a situation like that can happen anywhere, because there are youths who have been picked on or have been made fun of since kindergarten.

"We know it starts that young," Fowlin said. "All we have to do is look at what happened last year in Mount Laurel, Michigan, and see that a 6-year-old can kill another 6-year-old."

Fowlin said it’s time to reach out to those youths who feel alone all the time.

"Until we reach out to those kids who feel like walking time bombs, who think they are invisible, we could have the same problem that Columbine had," he explained.

Fowlin leaves the students with one clear message: People have to look at the beauty within themselves and the beauty of those with whom they come into contact, and they have to let the other person know someone cares. Peer leadership lab lessons were held in all freshman social studies classes as a follow-up to the lessons and issues the students experienced in the program.

"There they discussed various issues that were raised by Mykee," Murchio said, "but they focused on the topic of hate crimes and ways to prevent hate crimes from occurring."

Murchio said the goal was for students to understand that the severe incidents people read about in newspapers really begin with small things that happen when people come together. In school, an example of this may be when students have misunderstandings that are never worked out or resolved.

Danielle O’Rourke, 17, a peer leader, said, "Some of the freshmen were shocked, because they never saw diversity in that light. I think Mykee uses humor to get his message across. He uses comedy to come right out with the point. He doesn’t dance around or cover anything up. The audience is laughing one minute and in quiet shock the very next."

O’Rourke said she thinks everyone should experience a presentation like Fowlin's.

"It really makes people aware of the differences (there are in people) in the school," the peer leader said.

Jared Make, 17, another peer leader, reported that the students in his group said the experience was very worthwhile.

"They said it made them think about things they never thought of before," said Make. "Everybody could relate to something in the presentation. People have to talk to each other. It’s the dialogue that counts."