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Staying neutral in the classroom amidst a polarized world

Mr. Haley starts every government class with the day's top news.
Mr. Haley starts every government class with the day’s top news.
Gianna Ciccone

United States Government: two meanings. The governing body of our country and also a required class for all North Penn High School seniors. For years, teaching government was about outlining our country’s democracy, but as the political arena has become more polarized and fast-paced, the way of teaching government also had to be changed. Not just government teachers, but all teachers at North Penn have had to be mindful of the constantly evolving political world. 

While politics have greatly changed, especially in the last 10 years, so have the people who participate in politics. 

“It’s certainly been different since 2016, going into the 2016 election,” North Penn Social Studies teacher Mr. Dwight Homan explained. “Things would come up in American history classes when we talk about elections and you had to choose your words carefully.”  

It’s not just about knowing what to say to their students, but understanding that everyone has a difference in opinion, and teaching students how to react to that. Showing news that is exactly down the middle is practically impossible in today’s day and age, but teachers still try to get as close as possible to the center ground. 

“You try to be what’s as much middle ground as you can and it’s become more difficult because so much of the news has become politicized, which is a relatively new phenomenon. I think the amount of news networks trying to just fill airtime and then trying to find one that just reports the news is very difficult,” Homan stated. 

Finding middle ground news and presenting it is important, but more so explaining that most news isn’t fully in the middle, and that is okay so long as you stay educated on both sides of the news. Not everyone gets their news from the same place but everyone should have multiple sources to back up their stance. 

“I don’t care if you go to Fox News for your news. I don’t care if you go to Huffington Post for your news. But don’t just go there, because you’re only getting one side of the story and that’s the message I try to convey,” North Penn High School Social Studies teacher Mr. Brian Haley said. 

And even while the teachers make sure to share an even spread of news, from the left, from the right, and from the center, there will always be disagreements. At times arguments may arise so it’s more about teaching kids how to deal with this. 

“It’s cliche, they say if you want to start a fight with someone, you talk religion or politics with them. And so when we talk about issues like abortion or choice, which people are so passionate about, you have to set ground rules for the conversation. You have to have people who are willing to listen and think before they speak,” Homan explained. 

Learning how to communicate with others is a life skill whether the conversation lies around politics or not. Whether it’s a disagreement over where to go out to eat or what to have for dinner, people need to be able to compromise. 

“Mr. Haley always starts the class with unbiased information everyday and allows us to talk freely on the subject. He always encourages us to look at the other side rather than just our preliminary opinion,” North Penn High School senior Kathryn Romanoski said. 

And while politics have greatly changed, so have the people, but not necessarily for the worse. Not all people, but many people today are much more open to the diversity in our country and are willing to voice their opinions. 

“There are kids that are far left, and kids that are left. There are kids in the middle. There are kids that are right, and kids that are far right. And your generation [Gen-Z] is much more accepting and inclusive. You see so much diversity and it doesn’t bother you. My generation is so scared of diversity,” Haley explained. “You guys are capable of having a conversation and not agreeing, but understanding where each side is coming from, and that’s one of the big focuses of my class.” 

Social media has also played a big role in the evolution of politics in our country. It has done both good and bad for our country but has greatly affected the way people view politics and respond to the political climate. 

“With social media we’ve created these echo chambers. We’ve lost our civility in talking about our differences. It’s so much easier to be an anonymous person in a chat room or on social media and say something completely inappropriate that you would never say to someone’s face,” Homan stated. “I think that has contributed to the lack of civil discourse and we even see it in our leaders who are spending more time on social media. And it’s just gonna become an inevitable issue.” 

As a society we used to have a common view on what was happening in the world, but as social media has become bigger and bigger, the world has become more and more polarized. Social media spreads information that we are unable to determine whether or not it’s true causing the further spread of misinformation. 

“As a population we’ve lost the ability to see the difference between fact and opinion. And we see statements on our side of the aisle that we want to be true and we immediately believe it is true. And when we see something we disagree with, we see it as opinions, and that’s the media’s fault. Social media does not make the job of being a teacher any easier,” Haley said. 

In short, the political landscape is entirely different than it was 25 years ago, 10 years ago, and even 5 years ago. The people have changed, social media has evolved, and teachers have had to adapt multiple times. 

“Somehow history has been altered, and what has been altered is our understanding of the past as information comes to light. Yes, there are different historical periods, and different historical perspectives about those periods. I guess that’s what got people in a rough spot about AP African American Studies because there are people that no longer want critical race theory to be taught,” Homan explained. “The banning of books is becoming more and more frequent and the imposition of prayer in states is being enacted. I think there is a new narrative being written, and I don’t think it’s inclusive.” 

Regardless of the world around them changing, teachers have done all they can to continue teaching the facts and teaching students how to respond to the world around them. The have a goal of making kids interested in politics and staying informed on what’s happening around them. 

“Our goal as a department is to send you guys out into the world as active and informed citizens, as best we can,” Haley stated. “Not everybody’s going to want to care, not everybody’s going to want to vote, not everybody’s going to be interested, but if we can touch as many people as possible and show them why it’s important, then that’s what we do.” 

 

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