Life-sized game of Life stresses educational equality

Students jumped along the brightly colored life-sized game board, during the game of Life, sponsored by the Students for Educational Equality (SEE) coalition.

The idea was a result of the organization's desire to raise awareness of its mission and the educational system in the United States while still attracting others on campus, senior Emily Brown, secretary of the coalition, said.

"The game of Life epitomizes the idea of things being left up to chance, and the educational system in the U.S. is very much the same," Brown said. "Where you start or are born in life is related to where you go to school and the standard of public education you receive."

Some students participated in the game, while others watched as the players were given different scenarios related to the educational system that would either put them ahead or leave them behind the other players.

"The game represents the effects of our current educational system and the advantages it has for some and the disadvantages it has for other," Alessa Garland-Smith, a member of SEE, said. "We believe that everyone deserves the right to equal quality of public education no matter where they may live."

According to the event's program, there were 121 spots on the board and six scenarios. Each scenario was assigned to a different player without them having any knowledge of what it said or what their outcome would be.

"Everyone started in the same spot but, dependent on the education they received, it had an effect on the jobs they were given, the environment they lived in and the projected path of their future," Brown said.

Freshman Madeleine Gillingham was the first to complete the game, passing all 121 spots on the board. She played the game with scenario six. According to the program, that scenario depicted someone who had been born into a high-income family, therefore receiving good public education and, later, being able to go to college and find a good job after graduation. The contestant in last place, playing with scenario one, only moved 20 spaces throughout the game.

"Children that are born into lower-income families are more likely to attend public schools in areas of poverty in the country," Garland-Smith said. "These kids should have equal access to the resources that other children that attend public schools in higher-income areas have."

SEE hopes to continue to raise awareness through other campus-wide events that will engage the student body, Brown said.

At the end of the game, SEE members handed out facts about the U.S. educational system, which helped them create the game's scenarios, based on statistics from several larger organizations, including The Pew Center on the States, the US Department of Education, Achievement First and The Western Front.

Contact staff writer Nabila Khouri at nabila.khouri@richmond.edu