Educators are feeling the weight of responsibility to help their students understand the context of the seditious events at the U.S. Capitol last week.
Rioters breached “The People’s House,”, stormed in yelling “Hang Mike Pence” and “shoot Nancy Pelosi,” and took actions that led to the deaths of six people. They did all this to incite an insurrection in order to upset the counting of the Electoral College votes by Congress.
We all know the importance of an educator’s role to engage young citizens after crises and provide emotional support.
Not only are students and educators dealing with COVID-19, but now they are also dealing with the attempted coup of their federal government and subsequent intimidation rallies at state capitols.
The district superintendent of Burlington, Vermont, who is a native of D.C., said he was shocked. “These events particularly hit home as I witnessed the center of our country’s democracy — and my hometown — be attacked by seditionists.
“Let’s be ready for questions from our children — our future — and be ready to have conversations about what happened, and our role in bringing our country together.”
A high school teacher said on Twitter, “If you are a social studies teacher, and you are not planning to address the racial inequities & white supremacy in what happened today, change your plans. Your students need you to.”
An executive director of a Humanities Council said, ” No matter your politics, when Americans feel they must threaten the safety of our elected representatives in the U.S. Capitol, we must question how we are teaching the constitutional principles of legal protest in this nation.”
For teachers and parents
Teachers are feeling the burden of being a beacon of insight for their students. Alex Venet, author about trauma-informed education, shared some thoughts for teachers and parents:
- Check in with your own feelings before trying to lead someone else through theirs.
- Students need to work through their emotions first, before they are ready to engage in academic activities.
- Don’t feel a need to fix a student’s negative emotions; instead, validate how they are feeling and offer support.
Are we living in a Madisonian nightmare?
As a retired History/Political Science teacher, I would add that we are living in perhaps a Madisonian nightmare.
Writing in support of the Kentucky legislature’s plan for public education, called “Plan of Education embracing every class of Citizens,” James Madison wrote:
A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both.
George Washington also said:
A primary object of national civics [curriculum] should be the education of our youth in the science of government.
Finally, Madison argued that broad education of citizens was necessary to protect democracy:
Learned Institutions ought to be favorite objects with every free people. They throw that light over the public mind, which is the best security against crafty and dangerous encroachments on the public liberty.
These assertions are still true. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NASP) has found that “citizens who are educated about constitutional checks on direct democracy, are more likely to express trust in the courts, the legislature, and the executive branch.”
But in many states no rigorous high school American Government course is required!
Ironically, recent studies have suggested that higher education can actually polarize citizens rather than ensuring the rule of reason: Highly educated liberals become more liberal, and highly educated conservatives more conservative.
Our young people need us to step up
As many of you have witnessed, these are dangerous times. The percentage of people who say it is “essential” to live in a democratic system of government is plummeting. “Support for autocracy over democracy is especially high among young people,” concluded a study by the Pew Research Center.
Videos of last Wednesday show an armed protesters rally that turned into a deadly Trump-directed insurrection. Sadly, there were people of all sectors of society who felt emboldened to desecrate the People’s House.
Our students need to witness Congress take coordinated steps to hold the culpable leaders — Donald Trump, Sen. Hawley, Sen. Cruz, the Proud Boys, and the Oath Keepers — accountable, right along with the rioters who pillaged the Capitol and murdered a Capitol policeman. The “hand of one is the hand of all” legal principle is applicable here.
But beyond this immediate need, we also need to take seriously the admonitions of our founders, and begin rebuilding democracy by re-teaching democracy.
The preservation of the republic urgently requires teaching constitutional rights and responsibilities to a new generation at home, at school, and in places of worship.
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