Sweat trickled down her face as her eyes flitted between her two best friends. Will she choose the one on the right, or the left? Both of them had known her and supported her during high school, she couldn’t just leave everything behind! Her friends had equally valid arguments and had brought herself in between them. Have you been there? In a situation where you have two choices, and don’t know which one is right?
Jason Reynolds, a well-known author of YA novels such as Look Both Ways and Ghost, once told a story in his Lesley University Commencement Speech in 2018. In his speech he talked about many profound lessons and themes, however the story that resonated with me was about a fish.
Remember that class pet you had back in elementary school? Well these students had a class pet in high school. Jason Reynolds walked into his class on the first day of 12th grade, his teacher named Mr. Williams. He was not an ordinary high school teacher. He was dressed in “a neon Oxford shirt, knitted tie and dingy Nikes”. Williams taught a required class called Global Studies, the students were convinced that this class was a figment of the teacher’s imagination. Mr. Williams waited until all of the students filed into class before entering, holding something behind his back. “Surprise!”, he exclaimed in an enthusiastic tone. “Let me introduce you to your class pet.” The students froze in shock. Keep in mind that these were seniors in high school, mostly 18-year-olds and students who had deemed themselves to be too old for such trifles. Mr. Williams insisted on naming the fish Spock, after Star Trek of course, and feeding it everyday. There was even a chart that listed the fish’s feeding schedule. There was only one rule. Do not touch the fish. What happens if one breaks the rule? Two days of in school suspension, no questions asked, non-negotiable. SImple, isn’t it? Why would anyone decide to touch the fish anyway?
So, days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and the students would come into class and feed the fish, watch him and continue to complete their usual classwork. Then one day, in the beginning of March, Mr. Williams took the fish out to clean the tank, when instead of returning the fish to his tank, he dropped it on the floor. Right there, in the middle of the classroom on the white tiled floor. Poor Spock jumped and flip flopped around, struggling to breathe. The poor fish was dying. Right in front of the helpless high school seniors. The students crowded around the fish, watching, frozen in shock. Finally, two girls slowly approached the fish, collected Spock from the floor and tossed him back into the tank, all in one swift movement. The students around the two kind girls applauded, praising the two girls for their quick thinking and kindness.
“Pack your bags,” Mr. Williams said in a booming voice, loud and clear. “Start making your way down to the office. We don’t bend the rules here.”
The taller girl of the two, her eyes began to well up. Her parents had strict, high standards and she had never gotten in trouble before. She had always gone out of her way to be kind to others. The other girl was outraged and along with her was the rest of the class. “Are you joking?!” some exclaimed. Mr. Williams was not joking. The two girls shuffled out the door. As they started towards the principal’s office, Mr. Williams stuck his head out the door of his classroom. “Pick your heads up. You have no reason to hang them because you, in fact, did the right thing. But sometimes, the right thing has consequences.
”It is easy for most people to follow the rules, but not for a changemaker. How do you think the first woman got accepted into Harvard, when women weren’t even allowed to apply? There is a fine line between what is right, and what is allowed.
Sometimes following the rules is the easy way out. Other times, the rules are impossible and you are left with no choice. In Candace Bushnell’s Rules for Being a Girl, it states, “Be flirty but not too flirty. Be confident but not aggressive. Be funny but in a low-key, quiet way. Eat cheeseburgers, but don’t get fat. Be chill, but don’t lose control.” There are so many double standards, that to be able to fit into every little box and please everybody is unthinkable. Although this quote was about standards for women in society, all genders, ethnicities, races, and social classes have standards that are impossible to reach. The story that was depicted earlier does a wonderful job of highlighting the complex nature of things that seem so simple. Not touching the fish had seemed like the most simple rule, yet there came a time where it was impossible to follow. In the United States, jaywalking, the act of crossing the street in an area that is not the designated crosswalks, is illegal. In cities such as Boston, the fine ranges from $1-10. Jaywalking laws seem so simple to follow, however sometimes people forget and they cross the road without using crosswalks.
Another aspect of this topic is the fact that if an authoritative figure, such as the principal or teacher, had broken the same rules that the students did, would they have gotten in trouble? The teacher probably couldn’t/wouldn’t suspend himself. Now, if we turn to a more serious topic, let’s look at what happened in the weekend of March 8th, 2025. 29-year-old, male Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian-born Palestinian activist was walking home with his wife, who was 8 months pregnant. Khalil had been involved in “Free Palestine” protests at Columbia University.
Let’s say that the First Amendment represents the “No Touching Fish” rule. If the local law enforcement arrests, abducts and detains Mahmoud Khalil, and then doesn’t charge the young man with a crime, does this mean that the police broke the rule? Did these police touch the fish? What did Khalil do wrong? Khalil was arrested by ICE agents following President Trump’s executive orders. The reason? To “prohibit antisemitism”. Not only was the young man arrested due to “threatening others” and “acts of antisemitism”, Khalil had been facing death threats and harassment himself! Going back to that clause in the Constitution, citizens are to have no laws against freedom of religion.
The government goes against the rules that they created every single day. Mahmoud Khalil was one of the hundreds of people who go through injustices every minute. If you want to be the change that we need in the world, please sign the petition to free Mahmoud Khalil.
This article is not sponsored or affiliated with anyone, merely advocating for the issues that are significant today.
