Teachers & The 1st Amendment Pt. 2

Jacob Duran

The past four years have held some of the most heated political arguments in a very long time. Many people tend to see any opinion that they do not share as dangerous for their children. Teachers, the people responsible for educating the future generation, are sometimes subject to angry calls from parents who disagree with things they said in class. They have more of a responsibility than the rest of us to stay neutral in this time of extreme political turmoil.

In the last issue of the Red & Black, we covered the rules that teachers are bound to and why it can be hard to follow them, but we didn’t hear from the protagonists in the article. Many teachers have had to modify their way of teaching or have ways to cover these political minefields without offending anyone. We asked some teachers, and they volunteered their opinions and experiences. This is what they said:

Mr. Packer, the Journalism teacher at West, says that he used to always provide multiple viewpoints when addressing political or religious issues, but that, “over the last three or four years, things have gotten so ideologically white hot in this country that I’ve come to see providing ANY political or religious viewpoints as almost always a bad idea.”

Other teachers have had to change in similar ways. Ms. Adams, a Language Arts teacher at West, says that discussing modern issues without giving her personal opinion has been “very hard this year.” She says that avoiding talk about current events this year is the best way to not offend any parents.

While some teachers have had trouble, Mr. Baca said that discussing modern issues in his class while remaining unbiased is “not hard. I have been teaching a long time, so I am very familiar with what’s permitted. I have always been more interested in student’s opinions. The greater challenge (and the greater reward) is creating a space where students can share their own views and feel safe.”.

There is also the factor of the subject. Some classes, like government or history, probably have more need of discussing modern issues than others, like math. Nevertheless, random discussions about politics can appear even in a math class, even if it is just between students and a teacher is asked for their opinion.

There has been a wide variety of responses from teachers, but we received one response from almost every teacher: students should be allowed to develop their own opinions. A PE teacher at west said, “By promoting critical thinking skills, having open conversations, and understanding that it’s okay to disagree and change our minds, we will constantly build opinions that avoid putting us into categories and groups, and ultimately make it more difficult to grow as an open minded society.”

Most teachers responded that they don’t think it would be beneficial for the class if they were able to share their own personal opinions. Dr. Harper said that his opinion is just an opinion, “It is not better, more guided, or more passionate than anyone else’s opinion.” Most teachers seem to believe just that.

It is safe to say that most teachers, if not all, believe that it is best for the students to learn in a safe environment where they can share their opinions without feeling ashamed. While it seems like we are living in a world where no opinion goes without being politically classified, it is good to know that teachers are doing their best to teach students to think independently.

“I want to hear all of my students’ varying opinions. I want them to have the confidence in themselves to not only form their own views but to share these with others.” ~WHS Science Teacher