For those of you who read my rant last week... here is the follow up:
Report from Public School: Part 2 Today I found some hope. I did not find it by turning off my Twitter feed, or by taking a break from reading the news. I found hope in my students. Last week, I wrote about the jarringly rapid shift in culture at my school. About how, literally, overnight my school changed from a positive, largely welcoming place to an gauntlet of antagonism and intolerance. For a week I was hopeless. How was I supposed to combat the vitriol and hate I was hearing about from my students when our new Commander in Chief was the primary model for such behavior. How was a goofy English teacher supposed to say otherwise? Thankfully, my students said it for me. And they said it in a way that I could not. I struggled to speak back against the bullying and harassment without seeming political. Despite being as delicate as possible, I knew that in speaking up I was also threatening students from Trump supporting households. Something I am willing to do in the name of safety. But my goal is not to marginalize, it's to educate. Today around 200 students from my school staged a walkout. They wrote up a statement of intent and purpose. They organized and they walked out. They spread the word that it would be a peaceful, non-political display against hateful and hurtful language and behavior. They were adamant that it was not about the president but about basic human decency and support for one another. It was about being unified instead of divided. While many conservative students still felt marginalized and threatened, they were explicitly welcomed and encouraged to attend. At 1:30, in the middle of my prep period, I got to watch as hundreds of students calmly and collectively stood up and walked out. They didn't pressure anyone or harass, they just walked out. They gathered in front of the school, holding signs bearing messages of love and unity - not of politics. Half a dozen students spoke to the crowd, sharing their stories. A senior student spoke about being transgender, about how much it meant to him to feel supported by so many people. A Latino student spoke about how no human being should be illegal. A Muslim-American girl spoke about how hard it has been in the last week to go from being accepted - albeit with some naive curiosity - to being fearful and antagonized, afraid to come to school. Forced by her mother to carry pepper spray. Black students talked about coming together, about unity and togetherness. They kept on their message of love, unity, acceptance and support. In their demands, they asked that the school push for more diversity training and culturally diverse curriculum. Through peaceful collective action they made it clear that they would not accept a school full of targeted antagonistic hateful speech and behavior. They cheered for each other. They supported each other. They listened to each other. They spoke about the world they want to see, the world they want to live in. They pledged that this was not the end, but the beginning. That with this coalition of support, they would move forward in this new world of ours to maintain the learning environment they need. When they said what they came to say, they went back inside the building and went to class. In the grand scheme of protest, it was very small scale. In fact, it was overshadowed in the media by student protest walkouts in Portland's larger urban district where hundreds and hundreds of students marched throughout the city, shutting down traffic and garnering large scale media attention. However, our protest was different because it ignored the president-elect. For a change, it silenced him completely. For that, it was amazing. I walked away feeling hopeful for the first time in a week. If these kids could channel their fear, anxiety and anger into something so dignified and positive, why can't we all? I thought that, perhaps, if our kids were running the world we would be doing better.
***
And then on 11/21/2016 The Oregonian published this from Alex:
Dear American Parents: Before you put your children on the school bus this week, they need you to do something. They need you to remind them what it means to be kind. They need you to tell them that it is never OK to bully, intimidate or scare people. They need to hear this from you.
Our current political climate has had a frighteningly dark impact on our nation's children. Last week, in the largely kind, well-meaning and safe suburban school in which I work, students reported many instances of intimidation, bullying and antagonism. It was an overnight shift, from Tuesday to Wednesday. Suddenly, things that were previously not said were said -- and even deemed by some as acceptable. The discourse of intolerance and vitriol presented to us through the presidential campaign was legitimized and now suddenly emulated in our youth.
Unfortunately, most of the incidents at our school targeted already marginalized groups: Muslim American students, Latino students and LGBTQ students. Some students who openly supported Donald Trump with clothing or insignia were targeted. It became a dark, frightening and tumultuous environment.
As a teacher, I can control my classroom. I can enforce rules and maintain a safe space. I cannot control what happens when students leave my room and roam the halls.
They will learn nothing if, on the way to class, a student is told that he will be deported (because he has brown skin); that she is a terrorist (because she wears an Islamic headdress); that he will be forcefully converted (because he is gay); that she is ignorant or racist (because of a GOP shirt).
All educators understand a fundamental truth about learning. Scared, anxious, angry and upset people do not learn well. When we are distressed, our thinking brain stops functioning optimally.
We struggle to focus attention, to process and store information and to recall prior learning. We struggle to reflect, evaluate, analyze, synthesize and problem-solve. In short, we cannot learn new things and illustrate what we've already learned.
As a professional educator, we need your help. If you want us to do our jobs, and do it well -- to help prepare our children for college or career or family -- we need you to support us. Tell students they need to be kind to everyone. Tell them that even when they disagree or cannot understand another student, they still have to be nice. Tell them that just because adults on TV are mean to each other, that doesn't make it OK.
Share your opinion
Submit your essay of 700 words or less to commentary@oregonlive.com. Please include your email and phone number for verification.
Remind your children that they are powerful, their words are powerful and their support is powerful. Remind them they can stand up in positive, supportive and compassionate ways to antagonistic or condescending behavior. They can choose not to laugh, and they can tell their friends to stop. They can support those who have been hurt and who are scared.
This is not about politics; it's about basic humanity. It's about showing each of our kids that they matter. It's about creating and maintaining an academic environment for our children to maximize learning and about developing a diverse array of future citizens.
Our children are scared right now. They are anxious, upset and angry. They require reassurance and explicit direction to practice kindness, compassion and love. As teachers, we need help spreading this reassurance.
Our children need help. They need this help from you.
Alex Close is a high school English teacher and a resident of Portland.
Suffice it to say, I'm pretty proud to be this man's wife ;)
I have also been feeling so inspired by my students! The new generation is going to do great things!
ReplyDelete