When it comes to the topic of free speech, I'm all over it. I believe in free speech. For everyone. I also believe in moderation and self-control as well as a time and a place. I might be mired in hypocrisy (alright, I definitely am) when I say that 14-16 year old students don't have enough experience to have a political opinion, therefore they shouldn't even want to display it. They're entirely too young to know what is going on in regards to a president or candidate. They learn through/from their parents or adopt beliefs that sits in contrary to public opinion.
I know I'm generalzing/stereotyping/making snap judgements overloaded with fallacious statements. But I have experience with this sort of thing. I had an opinion when I was their age. I did things just to piss off administration. And I did them well. For some reason, kids need to test the limits of everything. Speech, actions, quality of work, etc. Maybe it's the cause and effect. Maybe they're just out to ruffle status quo.
This brings me to my next point: How do they know they've gone too far? As asinine as it was to have "Bong hits 4 Jesus" on a poster, did they know the laws/rules they encroached upon? I suggest that within their education they learn about these cases. Maybe they'll come up with new ways to surprise us.
And where the hell were the parents??!
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2 comments:
We learn through modeling and experience more so than listening. Students need to know their opinions are valued, but at the same time they bear the responsibility of forming them through critical thinking instead of predispositions and bias. Teachers should provide a safe forum for all opinions.
Hi Gary,
I'm feelin ya, man. . . I was really surprised at the level of vitriole and "opionion" that students were voicing over health care issues, the Obama admin., all of it. It was hard to reign in my initial reactions and balance my blood pressure. I ended up just asking a few probing questions and citing some rather impersonal global reactions and then turning back to the smaller subjects at hand. They DO think they know it all, about health care and money and politics, and WE know they can't know it--yet.
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