Beyond Parental Echo Chambers: Rethinking High School Political Education

As a high school student, people's obsession with Critical Race Theory confuses me. Florida’s Republican governor Ron Desantis has taken strong action against Critical Race theory with his recently signed Stop W.O.K.E. Act. He firmly stands that he “won’t allow Florida tax dollars to be spent teaching kids to hate our country or to hate each other” (flgov.com). However, it is evident that very few, including Ron Desantis, truly understand what it is and where it is being taught. Critical Race Theory is a graduate-level course taught at law schools, not my United States History class. The accusation that schools are indoctrinating children into certain ideologies is completely baseless. The fact of the matter is that schools do not talk about politics nearly enough, as teachers shy away from controversial topics, fearing termination or backlash from parents.

The idea that education should remain unpolitical is dangerous to democracy. It is a complete failure of American high schools that voter turnout in the 2020 presidential election “was lowest among those ages 18 to 24 at 51.4%,” (census.gov). Almost half of America’s young adult population was uninspired to make a change or be involved in our country’s political process.

Many students do, however, get political and election news from social media, scrolling through fun little infographics that clog up every high schooler's feed. In an informal poll of teens on Instagram, “89% of the 273 respondents said they believe social media has affected their political views and involvement,” (universe.byu.edu). While this could seem great to help young people get involved in politics, a different study by Pew Research shows “that 57% of people who rely on social media for news had low political knowledge and only 17% had high political knowledge,” (universe.byu.edu). Social media does not provide the necessary information and discussion that creates informed voters.

As a member of my school's speech and debate team, it has puzzled me why so many of my friends seem to be so uninspired politically. Ever since joining the team, I have always known about the most relevant political topics, being able to articulate and defend my own position. But this class is not a reflection of the education that most high school students today are receiving, as in-class political debates are a rarity.

This experience of mine reveals the benefit of debate as a means for political education — the road to inspire young adults to become interested in politics. Many may question how these in-class sessions could ever stay unbiased. The simple answer is always arguing against the student as a teacher, no matter the side. The sure way to remove bias and evoke deep thinking in students is to have them defend their own positions This also forces students to rationalize their positions, explaining why they subscribe to certain beliefs and the evidence that supports their arguments. Debate is necessary, but this can only come from an intellectual frame of mind, that accepts students' personal conclusions.

Although many students leave high school uninspired and uneducated politically, many parents do not see this as a problem. Most strongly agree “that classrooms should be places for learning, not political battlegrounds, with three in four Americans (76%) and parents (77%) sharing this sentiment,” (ipsos.org). However, this does not make sense, as political discussion and learning are not mutually exclusive. A student debating, supporting, and coming up with their own stances is not participating in a political battleground, but being educated is one of the most essential ways to be heard as an American citizen.

This idea mainly comes from parents who want children that echo their own belief system. It is not a coincidence that “7 in 10 teens (71%) say their social and political ideology is about the same as [their] mom and dad’s” (news.gallup.com). Most American children, who are not discussing politics in school, are just absorbing the political stance of their parents, listening to those ever-frustrating dinner table discussions. The idea that schools should not talk about politics is rooted in the belief that only parents should be able to determine the political stance of their children.

Even after signing his S.T.O.P. Woke Act, Ron Desantis continues to limit the scope of what teachers can discuss in class. Now under the guise of reinforcing “parents’ fundamental rights to make decisions regarding the upbringing of their children,” (flgov.com), Governor Desantis has outlawed the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through 3rd grade. While this action may only affect younger children, we can expect to see more attempts to limit teachers' ability to have controversial discussions with their students, in the future, making advocacy for political education more necessary than ever.