Learning From Our Youth In A Time of Polarization

 I am a teacher this year for a group of 9th graders in Durham, North Carolina, at a public charter school. This is my second year there teaching the same group of students I taught in 8th grade. I have been fortunate to move up with them in grades as they grow and discover more of who they are and what they are passionate about. 

It may seem strange to think that these young students could know as much about who they are or what they care about at only 13 to 15 years old but times have changed. Our youth are growing up fast, showing signs of maturity and awareness only befitting of a generation powered by information but also a sense of what's important in life. As teachers, we also have a responsibility to instill in them such awareness and appreciation for what's possible when they trust in themselves.  

As the nation moves through another phase of the pandemic and these young people deal with being online and away from their friends in the classroom, we still have opportunities to see how our future might be when these youth come of age. For me, it inspires optimism even though I consider myself to be a positive person. 

As the US presidential election results were yet to be revealed this past week, one of my classes in world history went on past our usual 30 minutes of Zoom, as I helped facilitate a spontaneous discussion about the candidates, politics, policy, and what matters to them in today's culture. While these students' recognized that they couldn't vote, they were aware that their study and preparation now would make a difference in the future. 

They had well-thought out opinions on policies from immigration to economics and human rights or racial justice. They had done their research and were looking beyond the headlines and the main-stream discourse for answers. And they expressed varied perspectives respectfully to those that shared a different view. 

Too often today in politics and across the nation in a so-called divided country, people argue and throw insults at each other over a whole host of issues and with varying motivations. This isn't knew in the last four years even if it appeared to get worse. Politics has become less about dialogue and building consensus and more about fighting and building walls. It is an environment modeled to our youth in a super-charged era.  

And yet, in our animated discussion, with only minimal interjection by me, they were able to hold to their principles while acknowledging differences of opinion with compassion and respect. They prefaced statements with acknowledgment of differences before sharing their views. They agreed to disagree in some cases but did so amicably. 

I left the class feeling as I have many times before as a teacher of these remarkable students. These young people give us a great chance of rising above our differences in pursuit of a common goal. They are willing to dig deeper in their search for meaning and truth as well as right and wrong. It was the type of constructive dialogue that this nation would benefit from more of as we seek a path forward. 

No matter how different we are as a people and no matter how much we have suffered, there are common values that we can look to for bridging seemingly impassable gaps. As these students have shown, it can start at the very least with a willingness to dialogue respectfully and constructively. Healing and progress can only happen when we're willing to find common ground with others as opposed to drawing lines in the sand.