Culture wars frame the election for students

This is the second in a series of posts I will be writing over the next month about teaching Social Studies during Election season. These reflections are more "off-the-cuff" and some may combine into something worthy of publishing . If I re-draft any pieces here for publication, I will include a link.

THE PUBLISHED HUFFPOST VERSION (Click)

Imagine what the final presidential debate looks like to a high school student

The last few days of class have opened my eyes to a campaign season that we lost control of long ago.

From the beginning of this race, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were sharing the spotlight with videos of police officers shooting black men, a national conversation about the Confederate flag and a baker's religious freedom to decline making a cake for a gay wedding.

South Carolina Capitol Grounds, 2015

Photo by Jason Lander, Creative Commons 

Culture wars about the bathrooms assigned to transgender folks in North Carolina got the attention of students around the same time Trump announced that Mexicans are rapists and he was running for president.

That same year in March 2015, the private computer server sitting in Clinton’s home became a news story shortly after the Justice Department released a report showing that the Ferguson, Mo. Police violated the constitutional rights of the city's African-American residents.

Stop and think about how different news is consumed in 2016 compared to back in the day. Consider the degree of confusion and blame surrounding the conflicts that play out in the media.

Now, imagine your 16 year old self participating in today's political process in today’s information environment. The Internet, Twitter, TV and the 24 hour news cycle make it difficult for young people to avoid the news. Most middle and high school students get a dose of current events nearly everyday at school so young people are taking this election in whether they want to or not.

Laws about gender identity and public 
restrooms confuses students. 

Photo by Wayan Vota, Creative Commons

And our children have been overrun with culture wars pitting passionate people with opposing views against each other.

When ideas clash we’re reminded that different versions of the United States exist - dependent on income, race, education, religion and geography. Family and peers serve as filters for the news my students consume.

It is rational for teens to expect drama at every turn in the race to the White House in a world where facts take a backseat to theatrics and soundbites. Most of my students are not surprised by the antics they see unfolding during the election. From the time they began paying attention, outrage continues to get more play than reason.

Like their adult counterparts, today’s teens are equipped to escape the day to day drudgery of news. Their days are spent doing kid things - algebra, texting friends and going to football games. The news cycle moves at warp speed for teens, but the tone is not lost on them. Even though we move quickly from one headline to the next, students are more aware about what’s going on than their parents, teachers and grandparents were as teens. Whether they understand the implications of what they're witnessing is a separate conversation.

Relevant issues and no political resolve in Congress

For teens, the last couple years of conflict has been their introduction to American politics. The divisions have always existed, but we used to be better at coming to grips with not agreeing. Today's power struggles can't be dealt with in a single protest or piece of legislation.

Talking heads on TV have spun out of control making it difficult to discern honest analysis from propaganda. I am mindful that tension is part of our American political legacy and changing the current political culture will be a slow and messy process.

When students witness or take part in a movement like Black 

Lives Matter it can be a powerful teaching moment. Lessons 

on privilege, values, and  how we view news and social 

justice naturally come up in class. Unpacking Blue Lives 

Matter and lessons from All  Lives Matter has impact.  
(Photo Credit: Creative Commons)

Do today's students have the patience to endure a long road to progress? Do the adults they look to for guidance possess the stamina?

I remind students that change requires equal parts desire, optimism and organization. When I get a tired response from my class I am empathetic. My reminder is also aimed in the mirror.

In the face of real challenges, students are confused about American priorities. In class today, a student compared this campaign season to a bad reality TV show that can’t end soon enough. Another student, in light of our conversation about the election, asked if a president can be impeached right away after they take office. Some students began questioning whether the president is very important to our nation. Their reasoning: nothing gets done anyway.

Sign outside Sandy Hook Elementary School where 20 

children were shot and killed in 2012 along with six 

adults.  Photo By Justin Lane, Creative Commons

Today's high school juniors were in eighth grade when 20 children under the age of eight were gunned down and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School. They also know that a solution related to violence or mental health in the United States still has not happened. Debate in Congress? Nope.

This December will mark the four year anniversary of Sandy Hook and nothing substantive has changed. High school students recognize that if the preventable death of twenty children does not usher in a spirit of urgency and bipartisanship then it seems nothing will.

In today's America, teens wonder why we struggle so mightily to tackle tough issues. Why are we so scared?

Guns, immigration, racism and wealth inequality are familiar battles in the United States. Throw in women’s health issues (see Texas, Kansas, Alabama or Arkansas for instance), voting rights and religious freedom/discrimination laws (Georgia and Indiana for instance) and the backdrop to the 2016 Presidential election has been firmly in place for a few years. Voters have taken sides and politicians have been reluctant to compromise. My students are watch without expectation.

When they see the debate highlights (or lowlights depending on your perspective), they aren't looking to be inspired. They're looking for it to end.

What should we expect when candidates are demonized not for their ideas, but for their existence. In some circles, supporters of the candidates are diminished too. Despite my best intentions, lessons about James Madison and Thomas Jefferson are falling on deaf ears.

Students report to me that they don’t believe in a system that fails to deliver. Students, like the rest of us, do not see any indication that bipartisan cooperation is even a goal among members of Congress. Adding a vilified president to the mix will just make it worse.

While some students are comfortable assigning blame, most students are trying to make sense of the issues.

Adults owe it to students to talk about facts, weigh the costs and benefits of ideas and try to understand how someone else can see the exact same choices so differently. You can't imagine the amount of on-the-spot fact checking required in a classroom. In fact, I am willing to bet that in a group setting of adults just as much fact checking would be necessary if facts are actually important.

That’s a problem.

Unfortunately, in the world our students are growing up in, problems exist not as challenges to solve together, but as a means to divide people. They are taking their cues from all of us, including the candidates.

Somehow, legit facts become disputed and half-truths can garner so much airtime that they become the truth. All of this contributes to a political environment that makes statesmanship elusive. Legions of hard-liners grandstand in a fight to be the loudest and sometimes I feel like I am watching just to see the blood spill. And I am the teacher, not the teenager.

It is crazy.

I am not casting blame on my students, just frustration about our shared experience. I am the one responsible to create an engaging atmosphere where students can share ideas in class, ask questions and express opinions. They do those things, but sometimes I wonder how we should make meaning of what is happening.

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PS: Classroom circumstances of concern

Vote for the VPs instead

One student quipped that people should cast a vote for the Vice President since whoever wins will likely be impeached or even worse, assassinated. Obviously, that is not a joking matter and we discussed as much in class. The student did not mean it in a mean-spirited way and his point was that with so much hate surrounding this election, it would not surprise him if an attempt was made to take the life of the president.

But the bigger question for me has to do with a willingness of other students to shrug it off which left me wondering if they have just become indifferent or if they really think the situation is so dire that neither candidate can handle the responsibility of being President of the United States.

As alluded to earlier, high school students lack the context and life experiences to grasp national tragedies and turmoil. I was in the same boat as an early 90’s high school student. Think about it - my students were toddlers when the September 11, 2001 attacks happened. They are caught between witnessing an ugly election season today and what they have learned about history from second hand sources at home, in school or with the help of the Internet. Their context right now includes confusion about Black and blue lives mattering, bullying and a litany of social issues that have divided people.

Michelle Obama Speaks to the Nation about Sexism

After watching Michelle Obama’s speech from October 13 about sexism and the challenges women face, my students wrote a reaction. I will read their written reflections later this week, but as students talked in small groups and volunteers shared out to the class it became clear to me that The First Lady’s message hit home. Today's students seem self-aware and certainly more introspective than I recall being when I was a teenager.

On the other hand, I could not help but wonder how our conversation turned away from the merit of her speech and the universal truths we seemed to agree upon. Among the student-raised topics that surprised me was whether Mrs. Obama was justified to get choked up while speaking (How can she really be that upset? It never happened to her.). There was also talk about patterns of behavior and how that informs our opinions of people.

Naturally, the questions about Trump’s accusers and President Bill Clinton’s accusers took center stage. We walked that fine line with respect to due process and acknowledging the awful legacy of victim-blaming in cases of sexual harassment and misconduct. Students showed sensitivity when talking about the courage it takes for victims to speak up which made me proud. When we eventually made it back to the topics in the speech, I had a sense that it is easy for students to distrust the words of any political figure standing behind a microphone. Even with a message that is universally adaptable and above partisanship, a few students expressed indifference or dismay with some aspects of her speech. I was not prepared for that response.

Public Service Needs our Best Young People

Public service is getting a bad name. It concerns me that my students may view a run for elected office in a negative light. The very nature of this election reminds all of us that we need our best people wanting to serve in their communities.

We have spent so much time talking about heavy topics and national politics in class that I can see now that a pivot to local issues and political figures might help students in the long run. A devotion to public service is commendable and I am not sure I have imparted that to my students yet.

If you have ideas about how I can bridge this gap for students, please let me know. As the grandchild of a former mayor, nephew of a current mayor and son of a school board member I know the value of public service. Whether it is giving back as a volunteer or taking up a cause, I want to do help my students see and experience American values in the places they exist outside of national politics.

Election 2016 & Student Learning

This is the first in a series of posts I will be writing over the next month about teaching Social Studies during Election season. These reflections are more "off-the-cuff" and some may combine into something worthy of publishing . If I re-draft any pieces here for publication, I will include a link.

Young people are paying attention

The election season has dominated my life this week. At home, we talk about the election daily. Colleagues have been stopping by my classroom to discuss the news of the day and students regularly stay after class to engage in conversations about the future of our nation.

My teenage students have helped me see this election from their perspective. While most of my students are still too young to vote, they have been following the twists and turns on the campaign trail. The best part is that while many divergent points of view exist in each of my classes, students consistently demonstrate a willingness to listen and keep the conversations focused on ideas. Personal attacks and disrespectful behaviors do not enter into our heated discussions. Students place more value on being heard than on being right. I try my best to apply the lessons imparted by my students when I get involved in fierce conversations.

Last April I wrote an impassioned Open Letter to Donald Trump featured in HuffPost and in that letter I described my optimism about the future in spite of Trump's popularity. My students were opening my eyes to a perspective I was incapable of gaining on my own. At that time, my students were questioning Trump's bigotry and racist behaviors. Today, six months after I wrote that letter, Trump is on political life-support. As some people make excuses for Trump's behaviors I am mindful that that we have a lot of healing to endure in our nation. I continue to get feedback about my letter to Trump (positive and critical) and while I remain optimistic in general, I am more cautious about asserting what this election means for young people. The damage from this election season is difficult for me to predict.

Voting is not the answer for many students

Just as I feel encouraged by how we talk about topics in class, I slump back into disappointment when many of my students report that they don't have much interest in voting. A lot of these kids don't fit the mold of "quiet and disinterested" students going through the motions at school. My brightest and most ambitious students feel so discouraged about the future of the country that they openly admit to me, their American Government teacher mind you, that voting is a waste of time.

This should concern you just as it concerns me.

I would be lying if I did not admit that I kind of understand why they feel this way, but I still hold out hope that these students might see it differently in the future. Hopefully they will feel their voice is part of a useful process. I am responsible for helping to bridge the gap between our professed ideals as a nation and the role each of my students has in this process.

What's plaguing young people is the same thing that is afflicting many adults and it's not simply a lack of interest.

     My students lack confidence.

     Confidence in the candidates.

     Confidence in the election process.

     Confidence in the electorate.

     Confidence in the media.

     Confidence that whoever is elected will be able to make life better for Americans.

Most students are navigating all of this for the first time and once the heat of election season dies down, we have to honestly deal with the root causes of the divisions in our country. A lot of people seem discouraged and we need to understand why so we can get to work.

Entertainment

Even though some election fatigue is setting in, students report that they feel most of what is happening on the campaign trail feels more like entertainment than real-life. The line has been blurred between the reality facing our nation and the reality TV style campaign antics and media coverage.

My students admit that they are not sure what to make of some of the destructive behaviors and shenanigans that garner news coverage. I fear that there is a major disconnect between what is happening in this election cycle and the implications for our nation. The understanding that elections have consequences has taken a backseat to, let's just get this over with now.

Campaign policy stances and critical issues have been moved to the back pages and impressionable students are experiencing a massive void in regard to a national dialogue about important issues. Ideas that need to be fleshed out and vetted by the electorate can't compete in a campaign season more suited to tabloid coverage. It is refreshing to finally dig into racism and sexism as part of the national conversation, but the way we got here has been disheartening. And where we go from this point will say a lot about our next president's ability to lead.

Whether it involves recordings of Donald Trump bragging about sexual assault or hacks into DNC e-mails by Russians, the whole thing has an espionage feel to it that we normally equate to the movies.

American Values

Guiding US Constitutional principles like the rule of law, limited government, individual rights, equality and the separation of powers have to make their way back to the election cycle list of topics we examine as a nation.

My talented colleagues who teach social studies encourage reasonable disagreement and passionate discussion among students and I hope students will demand as much from politicians in the future. Smart people informing our ideas, no matter their political stripe, should be a part of every student's diet. During election season, it is difficult to sift through the mud in order to get to the good stuff.

As a nation, we cannot afford to ignore how we got to this place: two unfavorable candidates, the regular use of the p-word in news reports and wild allegations about both candidates. Today's students are well-positioned as tomorrows uniters so long as we help them learn from all of this political destruction.

Since they have been paying attention, my students have been exposed to the ridiculous birther movement, a vacant US Supreme Court seat and a nation with deep divisions regarding law enforcement, race and immigration.

Helping students engage in the political process and learn from people whose ideas they may vehemently oppose is an important step toward a brighter future.

We'll be okay

In the midst of a class discussion one student confidently claimed "we'll be okay" when this is over. The basis of his response had to do with the checks and balances in our government. In other words, whatever the result in the election, he said that we will still be on solid ground because of the way the Framers designed our government. Part of me was proud since we just finished our unit on the origins of our government, but I got the sense that his point was that the government will continue to function. The bare minimum expectation and admittedly my confidence in that measure varies depending on who is elected. Another student claimed that it will be okay because in her view Donald Trump will not win so things can get back to normal.

We have yet to discuss what normal and functioning mean in the wake of this election season. How we define and create a new normal is going to be critical to our progress. Whether my student's will have faith in a government they have only two experiences with - the one they learn about from a textbook and the government they see on Twitter - may depend on the ability of our next president to lead us through rocky times.

The greatest challenge for me as an educator is to exercise patience about all of the learning we will be engaged in over the course of the semester. The depth required to analyze the role of the United States President takes time and context. Learning about each branch of government and the guiding principles of the US Constitution encourages students to contribute different ideas, but it can't be rushed. Primary documents like the Federalist Papers and the US Constitution require time to digest.

Students tell me they are overwhelmed with opinions on social issues they do not understand. Policies about immigration get muddled with so many myths that their heads are spinning. Having ideas about out how to deal with Russia or determining where weaknesses exist in Obamacare requires a PhD as far as my students are concerned. We can't afford to have a generation of students left behind by our political process.

How to best work toward progress in class and as a nation motivates me, and the landscape of this election season presents so many nuanced and complex lessons.

I love this challenge as a teacher.