Written by Blake Mathews
It’s Friday, April 2, and Spring Sing weekend 2010 is officially underway. Given the theme and all the hype that precedes this weekend, it might feel like some sort of internationally recognized holiday is happening. Well, it isn’t. Spring Sing is fun, but if you’re looking for something else this weekend, I’ve prepared a short list of alternatives from the international calendar.
April 2 – World Autism Awareness Day
Established in 2007 by the United Nations General Assembly, World Autism Awareness Day is dedicated to promoting understanding of this prolific disorder and embracing those who struggle with it. Autism is a life-long and life-defining problem that hampers basic communication and relationship-building skills, making it difficult for the afflicted to ever be seen as anything more than “autistic.”
Children with autism may not understand social cues like smiling or having their names called, and they often have difficulty adopting the basic rules of playing with others. That doesn’t mean autistic kids enjoy being alone any more than you or I would. It’s been observed that people with autism struggle with symbolic communication and abstract thought, although that doesn’t mean we have nothing to learn.
To celebrate WAAD, encourage any new parents you know to get their children screened for autism.
April 2 – International Children’s Book Day
Scheduled to coincide with the birthday of “The Little Mermaid” author Hans Christian Andersen, International Children’s Book Day is the best excuse you’ll ever need to put down your textbooks and crack open The Berenstain Bears.
The day is sponsored by the International Board on Books for Young People, a nonprofit organization based in Switzerland that has 70 “national sections” spread out across the globe. Each year, one national section is picked to be the international sponsor of ICBD, and the selected section picks a prominent native author to compose a message to young readers everywhere. This year, Spain is sponsoring the ICDB, and the message is “Un libro te espera, buscalo!” (“A book is waiting for you, find it!”).
Personally, I’ll be celebrating ICDB with a copy of “The Napping House” and “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales.” Don’t think you’re too grown up to join me.
April 3 – International Pillow Fight Day
At first, this special day sounded hokey, like the “World Mulch Day” declaration by a small plant nursery in Pennsylvania. But a quick look around the Web site (www.pillowfightday.com) convinced me that International Pillow Fight Day is actually going to happen. And it’s going to be big.
Pillow fights are being organized at the city level by independent groups. The most impressive aspect of this day is just how international it is: brawls are planned in dozens of countries on every continent, save for Antarctica and its crippling lack of pillows.
All this is being organized by members of an “urban playground movement,” a loose band of mischief-makers set against the “passive, non-social, branded consumption experiences” like TV shows and advertisements that are commandeering our senses and our public spaces. All I know is, their idea of social activism sounds like a great thing to try in chapel. Not that I’m encouraging anything …
Regardless of how you decide to celebrate this weekend, welcome to Harding, and thank you for reading The Bison!
