Politics and Teaching

So, Election Day has come and gone. I took time to talk about it in each of my classes today — and yes, I know I teach physics; more on that later — and I thought I’d ruminate some here. Full disclaimer: I am a lifelong Democrat who had been reasonably certain they’d find a way to screw it up yet again. (Who knew they could make Kerry disappear?) And I am ecstatic over the triumph of the Democrats in both the House and the Senate. But this isn’t a victory lap. It’s about politics and teaching.

I’m always a bit conflicted whenever politics comes up in class. Kids have a right to a safe environment, and that includes holding their own opinions on politics, whether seriously considered or — as is more usual — inherited from their parents. By revealing my beliefs, I add an element that doesn’t exactly fit the curriculum. Someone disagreeing with me might conclude that it’s easiest or safest to keep quiet, to downgrade their convictions. Also, for at least some kids, my opinion carries some weight and maybe they’ll be tempted into just adopting what I say without really engaging it.

And yet… every Election Day in every class I end up talking about it. Part of it is just that I am truly passionate about the system of government in the United States — this clunky, cumbersome, random, benighted, blessed patchquilt of laws and habits that assumes everyone is individually rotten but togther we can stand tall. It’s hokey and uncool and almost tragic but by God I do love it and it saddens me that kids are continually told by parents, media, and friends that it’s a wash and a waste of time.

If I could make it all about process, I probably wouldn’t be so conflicted. A dialog on the democratic process would probably be helpful; and shockingly, it’s not a thing covered much in their history courses. Unfortunately, of late, it’s been really hard for me to limit myself to process. My politics bleeds in, because this country has gone so terribly awry and it pains me — literally causes me pain — to think about how far and how fast we’ve fallen.

So today we talked about the subpoena power. For my part, this is the crucial and indeed only important part of the Democrats’ victory — their new ability to call this Administration to account for all of its sweeping and unchecked assertions of power. But it’s not possible to make the case for oversight without criticizing the current officeholders and their allies in Congress. That meant the discussion perforce moved into policy and values — if the Administration is doing no wrong, then there isn’t anything to subpoena.

My internal dissonance is mediated, a little, by the realization that no one seems to discuss these things with the people whom we all claim to hope will become active informed citizens. We treat politics as taboo because it might offend someone, and then we wonder why kids turn off to their civic rights and responsibilities. Failure to raise the alarm is complicity to the disaster, I think, and it worries me that we pretend none of this matters.

I haven’t really resolved the conflict in myself. I am beginning to think that too much of our operating procedure, though, is drawn from fear of offense. What’s left over is necessarily bland taffy, which no one can love.