Education, politics, and anything else that catches my attention.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
More On Teachers and the 1st Amendment
In the Tinker case, the Supreme Court stated that neither students nor teachers shed their 1st Amendment rights at the schoolhouse steps. Now, however, that sentiment is gone.
Darren-I hate to increase you uneasiness on this issue, but for many of us, treading lightly on our personal beliefs has become a regular exercise. In my school, where the majority of the teachers are liberal and the majority of the administration conservative, to be a conservative teacher is akin to betrayal. And to publish anything questioning the status quo is to have your abilities as a professional questioned. We no longer can speak freely because now those who are diametrically opposed to each other are far more concerned with garnering power than in seeking and implementing solutions. Every issue, every vote comes down to politics and power. And each step moves us close to the abyss. I hate to sound pessimistic, but with terms such as "hatespeech" and "racism" thrown out every time an argument is made, we no longer are able to public express what we think. And for that you can blame the media that promotes such ideas and the educational institutions that perpetuate the idea that to question what is popular is wrong.
2 comments:
Darren-I hate to increase you uneasiness on this issue, but for many of us, treading lightly on our personal beliefs has become a regular exercise. In my school, where the majority of the teachers are liberal and the majority of the administration conservative, to be a conservative teacher is akin to betrayal. And to publish anything questioning the status quo is to have your abilities as a professional questioned. We no longer can speak freely because now those who are diametrically opposed to each other are far more concerned with garnering power than in seeking and implementing solutions. Every issue, every vote comes down to politics and power. And each step moves us close to the abyss. I hate to sound pessimistic, but with terms such as "hatespeech" and "racism" thrown out every time an argument is made, we no longer are able to public express what we think. And for that you can blame the media that promotes such ideas and the educational institutions that perpetuate the idea that to question what is popular is wrong.
Orwell must be laughing at us.
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