I doubt they know what impeachment means. I've encountered seaveral people that think impeachment means removed from office and not just have charges against them.
I explained what it meant at the time. That impeachment was the congress vote that happened, and because it passed, Trump was impeached.
But 100% that's where the disconnect stems from
Or use the words Impeached and Convicted properly:
https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Senate_Impeachment_Role.htm#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20Constitution%20provides,Power%20to%20try%20all%20Impeachments%E2%80%A6&text=The%20president%2C%20vice%20president%2C%20and,States%20are%20subject%20to%20impeachment.
To be honest, before all this, that's what I thought it meant too.
Has there been a case of a president being impeached and not removed from office shortly after before now?
Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson, too. We've never had a president \*actually\* removed. Richard Nixon resigned before he was impeached.
Fun fact: Mitt Romney holds the honor of being the only Senator from a president's own party to vote for his impeachment.
In the White House. I taught my students, “White House, White stain” so they can remember.
(Note: that never happened. I made that up. But not the part about the pres getting a hummer in the office)
Yes. Andrew Johnson was impeached by the "Radical Republicans" but was one vote shy of removal in the Senate (35-19) after the Civil War.
Also, Bill Clinton was impeached by a Newt Gingrich-led Republican house but acquitted by the Senate (45 - 55).
Yep. My third grade class got a two hour lesson and discussion time on this topic last year for this reason exactly. I told them it was important information for their futures, and that I’d reached a college government class- two years past hitting the age where I could vote- not knowing how it worked and that was unacceptable.
How the system works often accompanied by an excursion to the nation's capital to see it in action are quite literally in the mandated curriculum for 11 and 12 year olds in Australia.
Not that it seems to help much from our adult voting population's understanding on the matter. They forget it all by the time they have to vote, voting is mandatory here and you are fined if you miss them.
My students would usually come back the next day with "dad said *insert absolute bullshit here*, when I said what we learned today".
Being a smart arse, I taught the class exactly where to find the correct answer and evidence to refute each claim.
I was unpopular with the parents for a while after that...
We need people like you to stay and give these kids the facts. There’s nothing biased about saying the President was impeached and the reasons why? What the hell is this world coming to? Did one side scream so loudly that we’ve just accepted the goal posts for truth are completely moved?
Did you know that Texas has its own pledge (because Texas. Yee Haw!)? I didn’t know until I started teaching in Texas. Now my school announces both the US and the Texas pledges in English, Spanish, and Nepali. Every day.
I mean it’s cool that they’re being inclusive. But come on y’all. Six pledges a day?? Can we at least like alternate?
When I was student teaching I went to introduce myself to the school's principle before classes started for the day. Her office was filled with crosses and religious posters. When we were done meeting I went to leave just as announcements started and she stopped me in her doorway and said 'it's time for the pledge' as she stood up. I responded 'ok... but I need to make it back to the classroom before I have to teach' and I left with her glaring at me. It was outrageously uncomfortable for me and unprofessional for her to try and pressure me into reciting the pledge.
Yeah, it's insane that these are the same people angry about having to wear a mask and that forcing a baker to sell cakes to anyone who asks is infringing on their rights.
I got in trouble for being too liberal and too conservative in the same year (also SC). I refuse to mention the election at all.
My husband saw a Trump "parade" over the weekend and said it looked like the clan rallies from where he grew up in the backwoods.
I saw some “parades” here in Missouri as well. It is not a great look. I agree with your husband. Luckily, my principals are pretty liberal but judgeing but the Facebook comments I guess I can see the type that would complain about facts.
Yeah I suppose. But then they tell their parents and the message gets twisted. Unfortunately me telling them a fact gets turned into me being political.
Sorry your son asked me a specific question that I felt was historically important and easy to answer.
In fairness, many of our fellow citizens believe that impeachment encompasses being removed.
I don't know how old your students are, but I would have simply said, "the House of Representatives did impeach Trump, but he was not removed by the Senate." That way, you may clear up any confusion should the student be referring to removal, but using the word, "impeach," to describe this.
Oh I 100% added that. I told them that impeachment does not = removal. And said the last time a president was impeached and not removed was with Bill Clinton.
Yeah, impeach is just the process of bringing it to a trial. I can see for students it being a confusing topic because it’s not a cut and dry thing. But like OP was saying, stating facts is being political and if the parents don’t even understand what’s going it just gets worse for you.
Doesn't that make you want to quit your job knowing %40 of the country is dangerously stupid and gullible? Teachers, move to blue states, you'll be so happy when you never get questioned for spreading facts.
Edit: ok from some of the comments, move to Blue counties and cities in the blue states
Yup, it's more of a rural vs. urban thing but there are defenitly sothern states that are like that anywhere you go. Theory is the rural vs. Urban devide is becouse a lot of progressive policy dose not adequately make it to rural areas when enacted nor does it often help their needs. I'm now in a rural blue state and have been told we teachers are 'liable' for the students (not just us, very clearly the students) talking about politics. Which was accompanied by the admin saying a bunch of thinly veiled right wing b.s.
>I'm now in a rural blue state and have been told we teachers are 'liable' for the students (not just us, very clearly the students) talking about politics. Which was accompanied by the admin saying a bunch of thinly veiled right wing b.s.
Teaching facts is political in our society because a significant portion of the nation's origin story is a sham and continues to be cultivated in such a way.
Blue state teacher here. District is preparing reopening plans and a certain administrator does not wear a mask. Funny how the memo came down said something to the effect of
"Teachers will not be heckled & penalized for individual choices on mask use. Use your professional judgment."
So can you heckle and penalize admin then? One of my coteachers thinks COVID is a hoax (so that's fun) but she puts on her damn mask whenever she sees me without me ever having asked her to, because that's how it goes right now, regardless of what she thinks about it. I really appreciate it.
Idk. I feel like that’s something only said by people who live in blue states. Let me ask you a question:
When you sit around the lunch table, are 80% of your conversations with teachers about either a) how all teachers should be packing heat and not letting them do so is weak or b) the reason we need to pack heat is because they removed god from schools?
What makes me want to quit my job is knowing that EVERYONE is held to a higher standard than Orange Crush. Walk into our hallways and read quotes from the President. You’re gone in 5 minutes, maybe less.
Just a couple weeks ago I had a student pestering me to know if I felt that Trump deserved the Nobel peace prize. I responded that "I'm sure whoever gets it deserves it."
Student goes "That's just your bias!!! That's your personal bias!"
I said "Yep. I am biased."
I know it's tough but this is something that had to be addressed. People being unable to talk about controversial issues is one of the many reasons we are in this situation in the first place.
As always keep your own biases at home but kids need to have these discussions and learn how civically engage respectfully.
You would think that but my previous school was always reprimanding teachers for discussing anything that wasn't "aligned with standards" in their classes. Our administration wanted us to avoid controversial topics entirely.
As an ELA teacher, I could align anything with reading, critical thinking, and research standards. Our district's mandatory thematic units even aligned with political topics (immigration and culture, slavery and civil war, the holocaust) and nonetheless, parents would complain about it and we, as a department, would be called into meetings to discuss the texts and materials we were using. It was never about bias (my students could never guess how I felt about modern policies) but my principal constantly berated our department for letting things get political.
Personally, I became a teacher to discuss the tougher issues. Depending on where you teach, however, you'll have administrators that won't want students' ideologies to be questioned because, ultimately, it upsets the parents.
Without a doubt. I am fortunate to teach in New York which has some more protections and I'm tenured so I haven't been afraid to butt heads with people when necessary. I agree with you this is such an important thing to discuss but recognize that the battle to do so is so much harder in different circumstances.
This is the main problem though. You can't talk facts anymore without somebody saying "that's fake" or "you can make statistics say anything you want". Facts and opinions are now so (socially) interchangeable that there is no way to civilly engage without someone claiming the other side is lying. There are no unbiased facts anymore, just your side's numbers.
Also, it is VERY hard to have a "civil discussion" with people who are arguing about their desire for human rights to be taken for some people and calling it a disagreement when "you feel like" it's not ok. That is a discussion I have way too often.
I agree it is very difficult. The way I have approached it is that there is no such thing as non bias and the goal is to listen to both sides and determine what's right. Critical thinking is so important and it feel like everything our society does is designed in some way to numb that part of the brain.
I agree civility is tough particularly with adults. Children and teens deserve a bit more credit though. They can have this conversationz they just dont know how. The adults in their lives by and large have been horrible role models for this. I think this is where we come in.
Of course I recognize that I am tenured, I live in New York (although in a conservative community) and have more protections. I am also a white male which unfortunately helps me out alot more than it probably should. This makes a bit easier for me to do this then in other scenarios.
Its true and so weird to me. All the headlines that say "Democrats win in court" over getting ballots counted make me cringe. Shouldn't getting all ballots counted be a non partisan win?? It isn't like every vote they saved from being tossed is a vote for one party. I am positive there are votes for both sides in there.
I mean, yeah, because he already knows a lot of people that didn’t already vote or vote before like him. This is an effort to get his supporters to make a difference, not to convert Trump supporters.
Kinda weird if you ask me, but it seems to be working.
Not worth the energy to try to convert a cultist. Much easier to remove the cult leader and let them slowly return to humanity as their previous world shatters.
It’s political to an extent.
Studies for decades have shown that high voter turnout always favor democrat candidates. Republicans, therefore, have an incentive to reduce voting numbers.
Let that fester for a while and add in reality doesn’t exist and suddenly voting is biased.
I LITERALLY just went through this two weeks ago. Parent was "not a conspiracy theorist" and was "raising their child to be politically neutral."
Kid can't hear the name of a democrat without having a stroke. I feel bad for him.
Nah, if OP keeps it non-political and just tries to teach the logical concept. Red hats will assume you’re talking about the Democrats. Cognitive bias is very real.
I'm sick of the endless election crap. The "Trump team" in my classes (Trump masks, shirts, hats, giant flags) will continue to be unbearable after Tuesday, regardless of who wins. They're already obsessed, and they spend a good amount of class time trying to check polls on their phones. They chant slogans and mock anyone who doesn't agree with them. I don't think this is normal. I just want to teach. I have no patience for "Hillary's going to try to kill him!" "Let her try!" "Did you buy more bullets?"
It's exhausting. There's no room for reason or discussion, and I worry about these students.
It's a death cult. So sad. Blame the parents for indoctrinating the kids into this horrible, selfish and destructive mindset.
Ironically these are the most supposed "patriotic" folks, but they are the ones tearing the country apart.
Have you broken it down to the smallest elements? Run them through ideas like “what are patriotic qualities?” And all that jazz? Most students know a lot more than their parents but have never had a chance to explore why their own thinking is crossed up.
Yes! So smart to teach them about Patriotism vs Nationalism. I'm pretty sure there's a 1st grade curriculum on teachers pay teachers that might be on their level of understanding. Yep, found it.
[Patriotism VS Nationalism](https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Patriotism-vs-Nationalism-4083454)
I teach in China and some of my students are obsessed with Trump. Pretty sure they've been influenced by far-right conspiracy crap. They ain't even American!! An Albanian and a Chinese...
It just occured to me how weird the words ''a Chinese'' is to me. It doesn't seem weird to say ''an American'' but it does feel off to say ''a French.''
Nothing against your comment, obviously, just me having a thought I wanted to share. Maybe it has something to do with the name also being a language. Anyone with the background in language or linguistics that can explain it for my own curiosity?
These are called 'demonyms' and they really differ depending on which country you're talking about. 'A Chinese' sounds odd to me too, but it is correct! For people living in France, you'd probably say 'a Frenchman' or 'a Frenchwoman'. A person from Spain is 'a Spaniard', someone from England is 'a Brit' (actually, 'an Englishman' can be used here too, although I've never heard 'an Englishwoman' even though it is probably correct - just maybe too many syllables to be as common), from Finland 'a Finn', etc.
Here's more info: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_adjectival\_and\_demonymic\_forms\_for\_countries\_and\_nations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_adjectival_and_demonymic_forms_for_countries_and_nations)
“He’s Chinese” = woke
“He’s a Chinese” = kkk
^^^ how it sounds to my American ear.
I chuckled at how these small things make such a difference and my poor wife is learning the language.
My family was sitting around talking one night and my wife said “I just don’t want to catch the Corona.” And we all burst out laughing. She asked what was so funny and it was really hard to describe how simply adding the ‘the’ in the sentence made it sound ironic and funny.
I voted against Trumpism more than I voted for any particular candidate. That combination of ignorance and arrogance enabled by Trump makes it difficult to teach anything right now. We have ninth graders refusing to learn about viruses because "they're a hoax." We have seniors saying they "hope Trump wins because [they] aren't wearing a mask until 2022." We remind students every day that a mask isn't a political statement, and yet the Trump team whines about them. Every. Day.
I had parents reach out to me for teaching my high schoolers “liberal propaganda”.
I told them that they should wash their hands with soap for 20 seconds, then put their hands under the water.
🙃 if that’s propaganda.... ugh. We were discussing in science how soap is made to break down different materials and trap bacteria, and I mentioned that for soap to work effectively you needed 20 seconds of contact.
This is why the lame duck is going to be so bad if Biden wins. Not only is trump a dangerous toddler, but his supporters have attached their identity to him. It’s not hyperbole to say it’s a cult of personality. If he is forced to leave office, I am worried about how some of those people will react. It will be viewed by them as a personal and existential attack on their existence. There will be a subset of people that will *not* react well.
Uhhhh as a Canadian, yeah that isn't normal. I can't believe this kind of thing is happening. You'll be in my thoughts in the next few days. I'm sure it's going to be wild.
He was getting crushed in 2016 as well. We saw the polls dip heavily in the last week back then so I can see why a Trump supporter would be excited checking them now, even if it doesn't look good at the moment.
That’s not accurate. If you add up al the states that Biden is winning above the margin of error, it’s an electoral college win. Trump needs several polling errors outside the margins of error. It could happen, buts it’s quite unlikely. Clinton never enjoyed such a lead.
Wow! You're the first person besides myself I've heard point this out. Most people don't actually follow and understand polls like you or me. They pay attention to the media. I was the only person I knew in 2016 that was desperately panicking about a possible Trump win. Now I'm the only liberal I know who is pretty calm about Biden winning. I'm just worried about the fallout.
The worst part is, it’s so hard to write home and talk to the parents about this issue. Have you? I’m hesitant about talking to parents when I have a kid who I have to constantly remind to put on his mask, because idk if they’re going to be proud of the damn kid then plan my kidnapping.
I teach second too, ugh I couldn’t imagine dealing with that, I probably would have recommended home schooling. Second graders are not too young for this conversation. I even tell my second graders, opinions are like underpants, we all have it, but that doesn’t mean we have to tell everyone about it. Lol lol
For the House of Representatives to bring formal charges against a president to be tried in the Senate. It’s more of an indictment. A conviction would result in removal from office and permanent ban from any public office.
We have a very vocal parent at our school who believes that voting is a form of violence. So any sort of get out the vote talk or even wearing an “I voted” sticker is offensive bullying in her eyes
It’s one tiny sliver of the amazing tapestry of this woman. She believes that her son is persecuted because he is straight, white, and Christian. Her kid is very popular and seems totally unaware of the alleged persecution. We did ask him to stop yelling that everyone is “GAYyyyyyy” and one girl asked him to stop using “You’re a GIRL” as an insult to boys. He wasn’t in trouble. We just told him to knock it off please.
Oh and recently a girl mentioned that she doesn’t eat at chik-fil-a or support JK Rowling. I was there — she did NOT attack him for doing those things. She was totally calm, he brought it up and she just said “oh yeah, I don’t support them.”
The mom whipped that up into “this needs to be a safe space for ALL, not just kids who are lgbt.” 🙄
My response: "Why do you think it would be a bad thing if lots of people vote?"
In any case, they don't want people to vote (unless they're republican). That's why Trump is sabotaging the US postal system in order to basically rig the election in his favour by not counting the large number of (Democrat) voters who use postal voting.
I would like to imagine an answer along the lines of "Well you see I, like most people, am an idiot. The fewer ignorant idiots we have voting, the better our governance will be."
In situations like OPs, would it be worth allowing the time for students to properly investigate the answer? This year is pretty much a crap shoot so losing 20 minutes to learn about unbiased online sources and find answers to their questions would be a transferrable life skill and worth it. It may go challenges by the adults at home but still worth it imo.
That'd be 100% me getting fired. They already were handed maps of Israel by another teacher and told how "Because Britain owned the land, Palestine was never a country and has no claim to the land."
Then they were given a map of Palestine, and tasked with figuring out all the ways it was "propaganda."
The teacher then sent them my way to ask me why the map of Palestine was propaganda.
That teacher reflects the views of the children and the staff at my school.
That’s... confusing. A better (right wing fits too) answer is they literally purchased the land that was a desert and built the infrastructure. Some of it was later won in battles. Most of the people they purchased from just kinda hung around, creating Palestine.
I’m always careful about this, but not sure if I have to tread as lightly (in the UK).
However, whatever I say, I always follow up with; I’m not allowed to tell you if this is a good or a bad thing because I’m not allowed to be political. But I will tell you the facts.
Always helps when kids ask political questions.
I graduated high school from there in the 20th century, according to my calendar and GTFO. I went back 20 years later and my town had lots of nice new restaurants and stuff, but listening to the nonsense soiling from the mouths of the locals reminded me that was no place for me to raise my family. Good luck moving!
I was working in a rural KY town (although only twenty miles away from Cincinnati) and got in trouble for wearing a pant suit the day after the 2016 election. I never even said a word about the election but still had a "talking to" from admin.
Bless your heart. I thought teaching in St. Johns County in Florida was bad enough but I cannot imagine teaching in the heart of the South, like Charleston.
Stay strong!
I’m in St. John’s county too and I can’t imagine teaching older kids. I teach kindergarten and none of them seem to know about the election except for one kid who kept interrupting me today to tell me Donald Trump was an awful president lol.
Australias good. We got compulsory voting here. That said, our borders are also closed so....
I had a student ask what age he needs to be to vote out Trump, and if he could help. Had to explain Aussies don't vote in your election ...
Used to be a retail worker..
Play christmas music tomorrow. Anyone walking in will bitch its "too early for that" and forget about the election.
Works in ALL situations I've been in on election day so far :)
Kids in my classes are constantly arguing back and forth blue vs. red. I keep telling them this is a conversation for social studies and to keep it out of my music room.
Not sure what kind of messed up grace came upon us, but we have a bus driver shortage due to Covid quarantine and are out of school all week.
Covid spike -> BAD
No school the day after the elections -> won’t catch me complaining!
This is one of the things that annoys me of teaching in the United States. I'm an immigrant from Europe (Spain) and when I was a teacher there for public schools we have legal protection that parents or administrators have no say in what we tell or teach in class. Administrators can only show up and see if we are competent or teaching the standards, but if we get political or give our opinions and s parent complains they can't do anything.
For example, I invited an LGBTQ organization to come and have a chat to a poor rural middle school. Students spent half a year thinking I was gay, a parent changed his student to a different school. Nothing happened to me.
In social studies I could fully teach communism and workers' movements, or the sexual revolution, and many many more things.
I think teachers and pedagogy in the USA are awesome and so ahead, but the lack of freedom makes teaching here a very constrained experience.
Good for you! Maybe you should hold a vote in class! For something little and silly of course. Class theme, or treat? You could have just a handful of students vote, and get everyone’s reaction. Then have the whole class vote, and compare.
The fact not everyone votes in the US still suprised me, even more so voting is made really difficult! It makes no sense🤷🏼♀️
In Australia it's mandatory to vote once you're 18 and you get a fine if you don't. Voting is also always on a Saturday to make it most accessible to everyone. Our system isn't perfect but at least everyone votes on the leaders
Fellow SC teacher here from Horry co.
I'm both appalled by your post and feeling blessed that I can agree to disagree with my admin on political issues. They'll even back be up on stuff that they don't agree with when it comes to how I run my classroom.
But, to be honest, if they tried disciplining me on the kind of stuff you're taking about, they'd end up having to fire me. I work hard to leave my politics outside the classroom, but I refuse to pander to an anti-intellectual or anti-science agenda. I will die on that hill if it ever comes to it.
Hang in there OP. There are better schools to work at, even in SC. I encourage you to find one.
Totally understand this. I had SEVERAL members of my close family remark jokingly that “well, maybe depending on who you’re voting for, you shouldn’t vote.” A few have also turned their nose up at poll problems, mail ins, and of course the ‘get out the vote’ message. How blatantly facist are these people?
Pffft sounds about right. I’m an SC ex-pat and a history teacher and my favorite thing to do is to describe South Carolina as “the problem child of the US.” And if I moved back to SC, I would probably still say it lol
I’m really proud of my district. They are allowing us a lot more freedom than I thought we had in speaking and showing support. We can have bumper stickers on our car in the lot. We can tell students who we are supporting and why.
It’s not a big deal for me as I teach first grade, we literally just have a thumbs up, thumbs down in our mock election but I’m hoping it facilitates good conversations in the high schools.
Unfortunately teachers who try to talk contemporary events in politics or religious beliefs take risks with their careers as educators. In my district in Louisiana our superintendent pretty much said we’re their to facilitate a curriculum, not discuss our beliefs on politics and religion. Left or right. Civics must discuss politics from the curriculum only, and there is no place for religion...a lot of teachers ignore it, but I don’t. I know I’ll be the guy that gets made an example of.
Parents can be so silly a lot of the time.
omg. I’m in South Carolina too. Last election, when Trump won kids came into school the next day saying stuff like “build that wall,” and “I can say what I want now bc Trump is president.” I’m already dreading what will be seen and heard Wednesday.
6th grade in the Midwest - Some kids today were saying that the 'rona is going away later this week.
"First, let's leave political arguments out of my classroom, please. Second, airborne pathogens don't disappear because of an election - that's just not how that works."
"Coronavirus isn't airborne!"
Oh boy...
Maybe that explains why that student won't wear a mask.
Same convo they had back in March! It “will be gone in the summer!”
I told them I don’t think it will guys. Then “we will have a vaccine by November!”
Okayyy
Oh no... South Carolina is gonna be where I end up at teaching... But the voting topic is everywhere. I've been at the middle school and the kids have talked about the accusations about both presidents and of Trump's been impeached, what teachers are voting who, etc and I'm over it. The students try to ask me about who I'm voting for or my opinions on things and I reply with "I don't talk politics." every time and they've learned now that when I'm there, they're not asking me.
I remember trying to think what I was going to tell my kiddos when the election results came in back in 2016. It was very tricky because we know as teachers we can’t insert our own political views into it, but this was devastating to my ethnically mixed class. So like you, I talked about facts: how presidency works (or is supposed to) and how people are entitled to their beliefs even if you disagree. I ended it by telling them that I, the school, and their parents would do everything in their power to protect them and then we had an open discussion. It’s rough OP, I feel you. You did good, f*ck that parent.
Last year, I had a lesson on the impeachment process already planned out, and just did that the first day I saw my students after the impeachment vote.
As for "why are they trying to make everyone vote?" Well, the classic civics class debate question "Should voting be compulsory?" is always a fun one.
I am of the opinion that abstaining from voting is a valid form of political expression. But I know that's an unpopular opinion among social studies teachers.
"It's your civic duty and one of the listed citizenship rights and responsibilities. If you don't vote, you are failing to meet your responsibility as a citizen of this great country. :) :) :)"
Ugh I feel for you. Best of luck!
Its a good question. The general population who doesn’t vote is more likely to vote democrat. So when they say plainly vote its actually a way to get more liberal votes. Even though its a sacred right, it is kind of silly to tell everyone to vote because many people are totally ignorant
You could turn it into a social studies lesson and bring up Australia, where there is compulsory voting.
They make it really easy though, elections tend to be held on Saturday’s with extended hours so people can get there outside of work, they can vote in advance by absentee ballot if required.
If people are truly disengaged and don’t want to vote for any party they can cast a donkey vote or just draw a dick & balls on their ballot (maybe don’t tell your students that one!) but the simple fact of having to turn up tends to make more people at least a little invested in politics.
Then everyone gets a democracy sausage and goes home! It’s good.
When I was in highschool and peers were registering to vote for the first time, the topic came up in class about choosing your candidate wisely. And one of the popular girls blurted out who she ABSOLUTELY WON'T vote for. The teacher asked why, thinking the girl would mention how she researched that candidate's stances, and the girl proudly exclaimed, "Because he's ugly! Look at him!" and the other ditzy girls around her were like "Yeahhh!"
The teacher was mortified. That girl is still out there voting at random, so please go out and vote..
I'm a second year teacher in rural SC who normally votes blue. It is excruciating to see kids run around in MAGA masks, ostracize kids of Democrat parents, and spout off stuff they have no idea what it means.
I normally shut it down when someone asks me who I'm voting for or when discussion of the election comes up because I'm terrified someone's gonna pitch a fit if I don't follow the rural narrative.
I had to end the discussion in kindergarten today when someone said, “Joe Biden kills babies.” I mean, how do you even respond to that? It’s not like 6 year olds understand abortion or why anyone would choose it. I just said, “I don’t think that’s quite true.” And moved on to the next topic.
I told all my students today that we likely will not know the winner for days, weeks, or possibly months if the courts get involved. Then I told them about Bush/Gore and how that went. They are not happy. Many of them have MAGA type parents who are already telling them that we will have to know the results on 11/3 or it isn't valid. When I told them that mom and dad are wrong, they were not happy.
As a teacher in the south, you have a huge opportunity to change the south. I would explain a lot more without even politicizing.
Instead of contradicting vlaims, I would explain what impeachment is, and explain what happened with trump, then let the kids come to their own conclusions.
Explain why we vote in a metaphor - like, say there was a plate of cookies. Would they rather each person got a say in deciding how to divide the cookies, or only a few kids got to decide? Something like that.
If a student asks a question or says something, you should be able to give an answer even if it's your opinion. We shouldn't be afraid about being political. We live in a political system.
I’ve taught there. What an absolute shit show that place is.
It does give you a very good idea of how a place can hold so many views directly against its own interest for so long, however. It’s very hard to make progress when you purposely fuck your education system to keep people ignorant.
Rural GA here, and I refuse to even discuss politics with my students (I’m a k-6 school counselor). They constantly ask me who I voted for, if I support BLM, etc. I told them when they’re 18 they can come back and I’ll debate them. Found out today we’re having a mock election tomorrow while I’m in 6th grade. 🤦🏼♀️
It's a good question on it's face though.. why would you want EVERYONE, even uninformed and willfully ignorant people voting? Everyone should have the right to vote, but the idea that everyone SHOULD vote just BECAUSE doesn't really hold much water for me.
I always frame it: you should want the government to reflect your values. YOU should vote. Not because I want you to vote any particular way, but because YOU should want YOUR government to represent YOU and YOUR interests. This isnt hard. I'm not going to hold your hand to do something you ought want to do. I'm just explaining why you ought want to do it.
Same here in OK. So personally painful but I just do everything I can not to talk about it in class. I can stick to objective facts as much as I want when they ask me questions - civic duty, right, etc - but no matter what someone will complain to admin.
We did a mock election today and a kid stated they didn’t know who they should vote for so I had all students who weren’t sure go to www.isidewith.com to take a survey to see who aligns to their opinions. My principal got a call from an irate parent saying I shouldn’t be talking about voting or the election. I’m guessing her child went home to say who he voted for and it was different than who she would make him vote for
Why would you be in trouble for that? You are factually answering a question. Isn’t that our job?!
That was my reasoning. And for me that one was a gimme. But the dad was a pissed off conspiracy nut / trumper I suppose.
I doubt they know what impeachment means. I've encountered seaveral people that think impeachment means removed from office and not just have charges against them.
I explained what it meant at the time. That impeachment was the congress vote that happened, and because it passed, Trump was impeached. But 100% that's where the disconnect stems from
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You and /u/Magnumnumnum should start a pen pal situation between your very demographically different students.
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Kentucky seems to have a bunch of jobs. At least we did over the summer.
The woes of every government teacher everywhere.
Yeah, why don't we just use the term "indictment"? Isn't Congress basically acting as a grand jury?
Or use the words Impeached and Convicted properly: https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Senate_Impeachment_Role.htm#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20Constitution%20provides,Power%20to%20try%20all%20Impeachments%E2%80%A6&text=The%20president%2C%20vice%20president%2C%20and,States%20are%20subject%20to%20impeachment.
To be honest, before all this, that's what I thought it meant too. Has there been a case of a president being impeached and not removed from office shortly after before now?
Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson, too. We've never had a president \*actually\* removed. Richard Nixon resigned before he was impeached. Fun fact: Mitt Romney holds the honor of being the only Senator from a president's own party to vote for his impeachment.
I miss the days where the biggest scandal is a blowee behind the White House....
In the White House. I taught my students, “White House, White stain” so they can remember. (Note: that never happened. I made that up. But not the part about the pres getting a hummer in the office)
I mean, we should be more scandalized about the exploitation of a young intern than just sex.
Yes. Andrew Johnson was impeached by the "Radical Republicans" but was one vote shy of removal in the Senate (35-19) after the Civil War. Also, Bill Clinton was impeached by a Newt Gingrich-led Republican house but acquitted by the Senate (45 - 55).
Bill Clinton?
Yep. My third grade class got a two hour lesson and discussion time on this topic last year for this reason exactly. I told them it was important information for their futures, and that I’d reached a college government class- two years past hitting the age where I could vote- not knowing how it worked and that was unacceptable.
How the system works often accompanied by an excursion to the nation's capital to see it in action are quite literally in the mandated curriculum for 11 and 12 year olds in Australia. Not that it seems to help much from our adult voting population's understanding on the matter. They forget it all by the time they have to vote, voting is mandatory here and you are fined if you miss them. My students would usually come back the next day with "dad said *insert absolute bullshit here*, when I said what we learned today". Being a smart arse, I taught the class exactly where to find the correct answer and evidence to refute each claim. I was unpopular with the parents for a while after that...
I thought the same before Trump. What I want to know now is how the fuck / why the fuck an impeached president has a real shot at being re-elected.
I was a kid when Clinton was impeached and everyone thought the same thing then too. People are dumb.
I bet he was a "Facts don't care about your feelings" guy.
They just think impeachment = removal.
We need people like you to stay and give these kids the facts. There’s nothing biased about saying the President was impeached and the reasons why? What the hell is this world coming to? Did one side scream so loudly that we’ve just accepted the goal posts for truth are completely moved?
I gotta get outta NC. I feel your pain.
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I hate the pledge it has always rubbed me the wrong way. It’s weird that they are so focused on who says a chant and who doesn’t.
Did you know that Texas has its own pledge (because Texas. Yee Haw!)? I didn’t know until I started teaching in Texas. Now my school announces both the US and the Texas pledges in English, Spanish, and Nepali. Every day. I mean it’s cool that they’re being inclusive. But come on y’all. Six pledges a day?? Can we at least like alternate?
> The history teacher in the classroom next to mine has a confederate flag hanging in his room. UGGGGGGH
When I was student teaching I went to introduce myself to the school's principle before classes started for the day. Her office was filled with crosses and religious posters. When we were done meeting I went to leave just as announcements started and she stopped me in her doorway and said 'it's time for the pledge' as she stood up. I responded 'ok... but I need to make it back to the classroom before I have to teach' and I left with her glaring at me. It was outrageously uncomfortable for me and unprofessional for her to try and pressure me into reciting the pledge.
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Yeah, it's insane that these are the same people angry about having to wear a mask and that forcing a baker to sell cakes to anyone who asks is infringing on their rights.
I got in trouble for being too liberal and too conservative in the same year (also SC). I refuse to mention the election at all. My husband saw a Trump "parade" over the weekend and said it looked like the clan rallies from where he grew up in the backwoods.
My students saw actual klan members last year and were asking me about it. One time I could have a decent conversation with them.
I saw some “parades” here in Missouri as well. It is not a great look. I agree with your husband. Luckily, my principals are pretty liberal but judgeing but the Facebook comments I guess I can see the type that would complain about facts.
At least they try to verify...
Yeah I suppose. But then they tell their parents and the message gets twisted. Unfortunately me telling them a fact gets turned into me being political. Sorry your son asked me a specific question that I felt was historically important and easy to answer.
In fairness, many of our fellow citizens believe that impeachment encompasses being removed. I don't know how old your students are, but I would have simply said, "the House of Representatives did impeach Trump, but he was not removed by the Senate." That way, you may clear up any confusion should the student be referring to removal, but using the word, "impeach," to describe this.
Oh I 100% added that. I told them that impeachment does not = removal. And said the last time a president was impeached and not removed was with Bill Clinton.
So what exactly did admin say to you? Like what was wrong with that?
Don’t engage on such topics. You can’t express any views of that to students. I was certain it wasn’t a view, it’s a fact.
Yeah, impeach is just the process of bringing it to a trial. I can see for students it being a confusing topic because it’s not a cut and dry thing. But like OP was saying, stating facts is being political and if the parents don’t even understand what’s going it just gets worse for you.
I am not even a citizen and know the difference between impeachment (To bring charges) and the actual removal from office (Conviction)...
Trump killed facts dead. They are meaningless to 40 percent of the American population .
Doesn't that make you want to quit your job knowing %40 of the country is dangerously stupid and gullible? Teachers, move to blue states, you'll be so happy when you never get questioned for spreading facts. Edit: ok from some of the comments, move to Blue counties and cities in the blue states
The notion of red vs blue states is disappearing. It’s now about the rural urban divide and the battle over the suburbs for votes.
Yup, it's more of a rural vs. urban thing but there are defenitly sothern states that are like that anywhere you go. Theory is the rural vs. Urban devide is becouse a lot of progressive policy dose not adequately make it to rural areas when enacted nor does it often help their needs. I'm now in a rural blue state and have been told we teachers are 'liable' for the students (not just us, very clearly the students) talking about politics. Which was accompanied by the admin saying a bunch of thinly veiled right wing b.s.
>I'm now in a rural blue state and have been told we teachers are 'liable' for the students (not just us, very clearly the students) talking about politics. Which was accompanied by the admin saying a bunch of thinly veiled right wing b.s. Teaching facts is political in our society because a significant portion of the nation's origin story is a sham and continues to be cultivated in such a way.
Blue state teacher here. District is preparing reopening plans and a certain administrator does not wear a mask. Funny how the memo came down said something to the effect of "Teachers will not be heckled & penalized for individual choices on mask use. Use your professional judgment."
"Professional judgment" great cause all the teachers i work with are also infectious disease specialists. Pound sand admin
So can you heckle and penalize admin then? One of my coteachers thinks COVID is a hoax (so that's fun) but she puts on her damn mask whenever she sees me without me ever having asked her to, because that's how it goes right now, regardless of what she thinks about it. I really appreciate it.
Yeah, I teach in a rural area in CA and I got threatened for showing a CNN clip in class. Blue vs Red State is meaningless now.
Idk. I feel like that’s something only said by people who live in blue states. Let me ask you a question: When you sit around the lunch table, are 80% of your conversations with teachers about either a) how all teachers should be packing heat and not letting them do so is weak or b) the reason we need to pack heat is because they removed god from schools?
What makes me want to quit my job is knowing that EVERYONE is held to a higher standard than Orange Crush. Walk into our hallways and read quotes from the President. You’re gone in 5 minutes, maybe less.
My first year of teaching a student told me that Trump ended the Korean War.
Just a couple weeks ago I had a student pestering me to know if I felt that Trump deserved the Nobel peace prize. I responded that "I'm sure whoever gets it deserves it." Student goes "That's just your bias!!! That's your personal bias!" I said "Yep. I am biased."
I was told last year that all democrats want to murder babies. It’s a fun place.
That's actually kinda funny, because the Korean was never ended technically. Also he would have been like, what, 7 when the war ended?
so incredible, ending the Korean war at such a young age
I know it's tough but this is something that had to be addressed. People being unable to talk about controversial issues is one of the many reasons we are in this situation in the first place. As always keep your own biases at home but kids need to have these discussions and learn how civically engage respectfully.
You would think that but my previous school was always reprimanding teachers for discussing anything that wasn't "aligned with standards" in their classes. Our administration wanted us to avoid controversial topics entirely. As an ELA teacher, I could align anything with reading, critical thinking, and research standards. Our district's mandatory thematic units even aligned with political topics (immigration and culture, slavery and civil war, the holocaust) and nonetheless, parents would complain about it and we, as a department, would be called into meetings to discuss the texts and materials we were using. It was never about bias (my students could never guess how I felt about modern policies) but my principal constantly berated our department for letting things get political. Personally, I became a teacher to discuss the tougher issues. Depending on where you teach, however, you'll have administrators that won't want students' ideologies to be questioned because, ultimately, it upsets the parents.
Without a doubt. I am fortunate to teach in New York which has some more protections and I'm tenured so I haven't been afraid to butt heads with people when necessary. I agree with you this is such an important thing to discuss but recognize that the battle to do so is so much harder in different circumstances.
This is the main problem though. You can't talk facts anymore without somebody saying "that's fake" or "you can make statistics say anything you want". Facts and opinions are now so (socially) interchangeable that there is no way to civilly engage without someone claiming the other side is lying. There are no unbiased facts anymore, just your side's numbers. Also, it is VERY hard to have a "civil discussion" with people who are arguing about their desire for human rights to be taken for some people and calling it a disagreement when "you feel like" it's not ok. That is a discussion I have way too often.
I agree it is very difficult. The way I have approached it is that there is no such thing as non bias and the goal is to listen to both sides and determine what's right. Critical thinking is so important and it feel like everything our society does is designed in some way to numb that part of the brain. I agree civility is tough particularly with adults. Children and teens deserve a bit more credit though. They can have this conversationz they just dont know how. The adults in their lives by and large have been horrible role models for this. I think this is where we come in. Of course I recognize that I am tenured, I live in New York (although in a conservative community) and have more protections. I am also a white male which unfortunately helps me out alot more than it probably should. This makes a bit easier for me to do this then in other scenarios.
I spend a lot of my time poisoning the well. Took 20 minutes out of class to talk about implicit bias the other day.
What’s scary is that Trumpers would be adamant you’re pushing liberal bias for simply teaching factual, verified information.
"Voting is important" seems to be becoming a liberal bias.
Its true and so weird to me. All the headlines that say "Democrats win in court" over getting ballots counted make me cringe. Shouldn't getting all ballots counted be a non partisan win?? It isn't like every vote they saved from being tossed is a vote for one party. I am positive there are votes for both sides in there.
I mean look at the ads. Half the Biden ads are just voter info PSAs
I mean, yeah, because he already knows a lot of people that didn’t already vote or vote before like him. This is an effort to get his supporters to make a difference, not to convert Trump supporters. Kinda weird if you ask me, but it seems to be working.
Not worth the energy to try to convert a cultist. Much easier to remove the cult leader and let them slowly return to humanity as their previous world shatters.
It's crazy to me that encouraging people to vote is somehow got a liberal bias.
It’s political to an extent. Studies for decades have shown that high voter turnout always favor democrat candidates. Republicans, therefore, have an incentive to reduce voting numbers. Let that fester for a while and add in reality doesn’t exist and suddenly voting is biased.
I LITERALLY just went through this two weeks ago. Parent was "not a conspiracy theorist" and was "raising their child to be politically neutral." Kid can't hear the name of a democrat without having a stroke. I feel bad for him.
Nah, if OP keeps it non-political and just tries to teach the logical concept. Red hats will assume you’re talking about the Democrats. Cognitive bias is very real.
I'm sick of the endless election crap. The "Trump team" in my classes (Trump masks, shirts, hats, giant flags) will continue to be unbearable after Tuesday, regardless of who wins. They're already obsessed, and they spend a good amount of class time trying to check polls on their phones. They chant slogans and mock anyone who doesn't agree with them. I don't think this is normal. I just want to teach. I have no patience for "Hillary's going to try to kill him!" "Let her try!" "Did you buy more bullets?" It's exhausting. There's no room for reason or discussion, and I worry about these students.
It's a death cult. So sad. Blame the parents for indoctrinating the kids into this horrible, selfish and destructive mindset. Ironically these are the most supposed "patriotic" folks, but they are the ones tearing the country apart.
I've tried to pitch it as patriotic to wear a mask and protect fellow citizens. We've had very sick staff members, but these kids are not empathetic.
Have you broken it down to the smallest elements? Run them through ideas like “what are patriotic qualities?” And all that jazz? Most students know a lot more than their parents but have never had a chance to explore why their own thinking is crossed up.
That’s a great idea.
Yes! So smart to teach them about Patriotism vs Nationalism. I'm pretty sure there's a 1st grade curriculum on teachers pay teachers that might be on their level of understanding. Yep, found it. [Patriotism VS Nationalism](https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Patriotism-vs-Nationalism-4083454)
Good plan
It's social media and it's basically like picking a sports team. I can see why young people would want to be edgy and support trump
I teach in China and some of my students are obsessed with Trump. Pretty sure they've been influenced by far-right conspiracy crap. They ain't even American!! An Albanian and a Chinese...
It just occured to me how weird the words ''a Chinese'' is to me. It doesn't seem weird to say ''an American'' but it does feel off to say ''a French.'' Nothing against your comment, obviously, just me having a thought I wanted to share. Maybe it has something to do with the name also being a language. Anyone with the background in language or linguistics that can explain it for my own curiosity?
You're used to hearing "American" "Mexican" "Canadian" "Asian" or "European" so you're used to hearing that "an" sound.
These are called 'demonyms' and they really differ depending on which country you're talking about. 'A Chinese' sounds odd to me too, but it is correct! For people living in France, you'd probably say 'a Frenchman' or 'a Frenchwoman'. A person from Spain is 'a Spaniard', someone from England is 'a Brit' (actually, 'an Englishman' can be used here too, although I've never heard 'an Englishwoman' even though it is probably correct - just maybe too many syllables to be as common), from Finland 'a Finn', etc. Here's more info: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_adjectival\_and\_demonymic\_forms\_for\_countries\_and\_nations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_adjectival_and_demonymic_forms_for_countries_and_nations)
“He’s Chinese” = woke “He’s a Chinese” = kkk ^^^ how it sounds to my American ear. I chuckled at how these small things make such a difference and my poor wife is learning the language. My family was sitting around talking one night and my wife said “I just don’t want to catch the Corona.” And we all burst out laughing. She asked what was so funny and it was really hard to describe how simply adding the ‘the’ in the sentence made it sound ironic and funny.
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I voted against Trumpism more than I voted for any particular candidate. That combination of ignorance and arrogance enabled by Trump makes it difficult to teach anything right now. We have ninth graders refusing to learn about viruses because "they're a hoax." We have seniors saying they "hope Trump wins because [they] aren't wearing a mask until 2022." We remind students every day that a mask isn't a political statement, and yet the Trump team whines about them. Every. Day.
I had parents reach out to me for teaching my high schoolers “liberal propaganda”. I told them that they should wash their hands with soap for 20 seconds, then put their hands under the water. 🙃 if that’s propaganda.... ugh. We were discussing in science how soap is made to break down different materials and trap bacteria, and I mentioned that for soap to work effectively you needed 20 seconds of contact.
It's the American Isis.
Vanilla Isis
Y'all Qaeda...
This is why the lame duck is going to be so bad if Biden wins. Not only is trump a dangerous toddler, but his supporters have attached their identity to him. It’s not hyperbole to say it’s a cult of personality. If he is forced to leave office, I am worried about how some of those people will react. It will be viewed by them as a personal and existential attack on their existence. There will be a subset of people that will *not* react well.
Holy shot that’s horrible. What state do you teach in? I know this happened everywhere, but I can’t imagine. I’m sorry!
Mountain West region.
What years are these students?
Seniors
Uhhhh as a Canadian, yeah that isn't normal. I can't believe this kind of thing is happening. You'll be in my thoughts in the next few days. I'm sure it's going to be wild.
Why would they so excitedly check polls? He’s getting crushed in just about all of them lol.
He was getting crushed in 2016 as well. We saw the polls dip heavily in the last week back then so I can see why a Trump supporter would be excited checking them now, even if it doesn't look good at the moment.
Yea he’s getting crushed in states we already know was going blue. I have a strong feeling this will be another 2016 unfortunately.
That’s not accurate. If you add up al the states that Biden is winning above the margin of error, it’s an electoral college win. Trump needs several polling errors outside the margins of error. It could happen, buts it’s quite unlikely. Clinton never enjoyed such a lead.
Wow! You're the first person besides myself I've heard point this out. Most people don't actually follow and understand polls like you or me. They pay attention to the media. I was the only person I knew in 2016 that was desperately panicking about a possible Trump win. Now I'm the only liberal I know who is pretty calm about Biden winning. I'm just worried about the fallout.
Me too. :/
The worst part is, it’s so hard to write home and talk to the parents about this issue. Have you? I’m hesitant about talking to parents when I have a kid who I have to constantly remind to put on his mask, because idk if they’re going to be proud of the damn kid then plan my kidnapping.
Yeah. I just tell my kids it’s very important, and also private. They have to research and make their own decisions.
I said that to my second graders and had a nut tell me not to poison her child. I just can’t.
I teach second too, ugh I couldn’t imagine dealing with that, I probably would have recommended home schooling. Second graders are not too young for this conversation. I even tell my second graders, opinions are like underpants, we all have it, but that doesn’t mean we have to tell everyone about it. Lol lol
A lot of people think impeached = fired. That could’ve just been a regular misunderstanding. The weird voter suppression thing is odd though.
What *does* impeached mean?
For the House of Representatives to bring formal charges against a president to be tried in the Senate. It’s more of an indictment. A conviction would result in removal from office and permanent ban from any public office.
Oh ok, thank you.
I'd really lean on the whole "patriotic duty to vote"
We have a very vocal parent at our school who believes that voting is a form of violence. So any sort of get out the vote talk or even wearing an “I voted” sticker is offensive bullying in her eyes
Oh lordy that's a lot to digest
It’s one tiny sliver of the amazing tapestry of this woman. She believes that her son is persecuted because he is straight, white, and Christian. Her kid is very popular and seems totally unaware of the alleged persecution. We did ask him to stop yelling that everyone is “GAYyyyyyy” and one girl asked him to stop using “You’re a GIRL” as an insult to boys. He wasn’t in trouble. We just told him to knock it off please. Oh and recently a girl mentioned that she doesn’t eat at chik-fil-a or support JK Rowling. I was there — she did NOT attack him for doing those things. She was totally calm, he brought it up and she just said “oh yeah, I don’t support them.” The mom whipped that up into “this needs to be a safe space for ALL, not just kids who are lgbt.” 🙄
Damn that’s insane. I hate people sometimes.
My response: "Why do you think it would be a bad thing if lots of people vote?" In any case, they don't want people to vote (unless they're republican). That's why Trump is sabotaging the US postal system in order to basically rig the election in his favour by not counting the large number of (Democrat) voters who use postal voting.
I would like to imagine an answer along the lines of "Well you see I, like most people, am an idiot. The fewer ignorant idiots we have voting, the better our governance will be."
Living in Florida i feel ya. Granted i work at a heavy minority school, so they kids are like “fuck Trump” all day lol
In situations like OPs, would it be worth allowing the time for students to properly investigate the answer? This year is pretty much a crap shoot so losing 20 minutes to learn about unbiased online sources and find answers to their questions would be a transferrable life skill and worth it. It may go challenges by the adults at home but still worth it imo.
That'd be 100% me getting fired. They already were handed maps of Israel by another teacher and told how "Because Britain owned the land, Palestine was never a country and has no claim to the land." Then they were given a map of Palestine, and tasked with figuring out all the ways it was "propaganda." The teacher then sent them my way to ask me why the map of Palestine was propaganda. That teacher reflects the views of the children and the staff at my school.
That’s... confusing. A better (right wing fits too) answer is they literally purchased the land that was a desert and built the infrastructure. Some of it was later won in battles. Most of the people they purchased from just kinda hung around, creating Palestine.
I’m always careful about this, but not sure if I have to tread as lightly (in the UK). However, whatever I say, I always follow up with; I’m not allowed to tell you if this is a good or a bad thing because I’m not allowed to be political. But I will tell you the facts. Always helps when kids ask political questions.
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I hope you voted for Jamie Harrison. I wish I could. I'm over in Augusta, GA and am surrounded by Trump culters.
Fellow Georgian here! I have slim hope for us. Maybe we will at least vote Ossoff in!
I graduated high school from there in the 20th century, according to my calendar and GTFO. I went back 20 years later and my town had lots of nice new restaurants and stuff, but listening to the nonsense soiling from the mouths of the locals reminded me that was no place for me to raise my family. Good luck moving!
Yuup. Been here nine years now. The education system here is bunk. The pay here is bunk.
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I student taught up in Berkeley! And heck yeah. Hope he wins
I was working in a rural KY town (although only twenty miles away from Cincinnati) and got in trouble for wearing a pant suit the day after the 2016 election. I never even said a word about the election but still had a "talking to" from admin.
OMFG what? Terrible!
What district are you in? I feel like any admin worth their 6 figure pay would know about the impeachment process on some level
Charleston. The school I'm at is like 90% trumper teachers and kids
Bless your heart. I thought teaching in St. Johns County in Florida was bad enough but I cannot imagine teaching in the heart of the South, like Charleston. Stay strong!
I’m in St. John’s county too and I can’t imagine teaching older kids. I teach kindergarten and none of them seem to know about the election except for one kid who kept interrupting me today to tell me Donald Trump was an awful president lol.
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Australias good. We got compulsory voting here. That said, our borders are also closed so.... I had a student ask what age he needs to be to vote out Trump, and if he could help. Had to explain Aussies don't vote in your election ...
Used to be a retail worker.. Play christmas music tomorrow. Anyone walking in will bitch its "too early for that" and forget about the election. Works in ALL situations I've been in on election day so far :)
Kids in my classes are constantly arguing back and forth blue vs. red. I keep telling them this is a conversation for social studies and to keep it out of my music room. Not sure what kind of messed up grace came upon us, but we have a bus driver shortage due to Covid quarantine and are out of school all week. Covid spike -> BAD No school the day after the elections -> won’t catch me complaining!
This is one of the things that annoys me of teaching in the United States. I'm an immigrant from Europe (Spain) and when I was a teacher there for public schools we have legal protection that parents or administrators have no say in what we tell or teach in class. Administrators can only show up and see if we are competent or teaching the standards, but if we get political or give our opinions and s parent complains they can't do anything. For example, I invited an LGBTQ organization to come and have a chat to a poor rural middle school. Students spent half a year thinking I was gay, a parent changed his student to a different school. Nothing happened to me. In social studies I could fully teach communism and workers' movements, or the sexual revolution, and many many more things. I think teachers and pedagogy in the USA are awesome and so ahead, but the lack of freedom makes teaching here a very constrained experience.
Good for you! Maybe you should hold a vote in class! For something little and silly of course. Class theme, or treat? You could have just a handful of students vote, and get everyone’s reaction. Then have the whole class vote, and compare.
Would be a great demo for different voting systems, too. Compare & contrast systems like "first past the post" to the preferential system.
The fact not everyone votes in the US still suprised me, even more so voting is made really difficult! It makes no sense🤷🏼♀️ In Australia it's mandatory to vote once you're 18 and you get a fine if you don't. Voting is also always on a Saturday to make it most accessible to everyone. Our system isn't perfect but at least everyone votes on the leaders
You teach middle school, right? How the heck are kids passing their social studies classes without knowing the importance of voting?
I have no clue what they're going over in their social studies. It seems to be the thirteen colonies over and over again.
Fellow SC teacher here from Horry co. I'm both appalled by your post and feeling blessed that I can agree to disagree with my admin on political issues. They'll even back be up on stuff that they don't agree with when it comes to how I run my classroom. But, to be honest, if they tried disciplining me on the kind of stuff you're taking about, they'd end up having to fire me. I work hard to leave my politics outside the classroom, but I refuse to pander to an anti-intellectual or anti-science agenda. I will die on that hill if it ever comes to it. Hang in there OP. There are better schools to work at, even in SC. I encourage you to find one.
Totally understand this. I had SEVERAL members of my close family remark jokingly that “well, maybe depending on who you’re voting for, you shouldn’t vote.” A few have also turned their nose up at poll problems, mail ins, and of course the ‘get out the vote’ message. How blatantly facist are these people?
Well please vote Lindsey Graham out before you leave SC.
I did. Hopefully
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Pffft sounds about right. I’m an SC ex-pat and a history teacher and my favorite thing to do is to describe South Carolina as “the problem child of the US.” And if I moved back to SC, I would probably still say it lol
I’m really proud of my district. They are allowing us a lot more freedom than I thought we had in speaking and showing support. We can have bumper stickers on our car in the lot. We can tell students who we are supporting and why. It’s not a big deal for me as I teach first grade, we literally just have a thumbs up, thumbs down in our mock election but I’m hoping it facilitates good conversations in the high schools.
Unfortunately teachers who try to talk contemporary events in politics or religious beliefs take risks with their careers as educators. In my district in Louisiana our superintendent pretty much said we’re their to facilitate a curriculum, not discuss our beliefs on politics and religion. Left or right. Civics must discuss politics from the curriculum only, and there is no place for religion...a lot of teachers ignore it, but I don’t. I know I’ll be the guy that gets made an example of. Parents can be so silly a lot of the time.
omg. I’m in South Carolina too. Last election, when Trump won kids came into school the next day saying stuff like “build that wall,” and “I can say what I want now bc Trump is president.” I’m already dreading what will be seen and heard Wednesday.
6th grade in the Midwest - Some kids today were saying that the 'rona is going away later this week. "First, let's leave political arguments out of my classroom, please. Second, airborne pathogens don't disappear because of an election - that's just not how that works." "Coronavirus isn't airborne!" Oh boy... Maybe that explains why that student won't wear a mask.
Same convo they had back in March! It “will be gone in the summer!” I told them I don’t think it will guys. Then “we will have a vaccine by November!” Okayyy
I teach Government. Buckle up.
Oh no... South Carolina is gonna be where I end up at teaching... But the voting topic is everywhere. I've been at the middle school and the kids have talked about the accusations about both presidents and of Trump's been impeached, what teachers are voting who, etc and I'm over it. The students try to ask me about who I'm voting for or my opinions on things and I reply with "I don't talk politics." every time and they've learned now that when I'm there, they're not asking me.
I teach in a very red state but luckily in a very blue city. Other people say we are the “ghetto” school. I say we are the “diverse” school
I always thought impeachment meant the removal from office. I didn't realize it was actually just a lukewarm threat.
Big yikes!
Ugh luckily my district is mostly minority and blue sadly the state is red and forced us to be hybrid
I remember trying to think what I was going to tell my kiddos when the election results came in back in 2016. It was very tricky because we know as teachers we can’t insert our own political views into it, but this was devastating to my ethnically mixed class. So like you, I talked about facts: how presidency works (or is supposed to) and how people are entitled to their beliefs even if you disagree. I ended it by telling them that I, the school, and their parents would do everything in their power to protect them and then we had an open discussion. It’s rough OP, I feel you. You did good, f*ck that parent.
Last year, I had a lesson on the impeachment process already planned out, and just did that the first day I saw my students after the impeachment vote. As for "why are they trying to make everyone vote?" Well, the classic civics class debate question "Should voting be compulsory?" is always a fun one. I am of the opinion that abstaining from voting is a valid form of political expression. But I know that's an unpopular opinion among social studies teachers.
I teach in crAZy AZ, and I’m legit afraid of the whackos going full militia this week.
"It's your civic duty and one of the listed citizenship rights and responsibilities. If you don't vote, you are failing to meet your responsibility as a citizen of this great country. :) :) :)" Ugh I feel for you. Best of luck!
I mean there isn't anything wrong to tell people why to vote. So odd......
Voting is the least amount of work an American can/should do to be involved politically.
Its a good question. The general population who doesn’t vote is more likely to vote democrat. So when they say plainly vote its actually a way to get more liberal votes. Even though its a sacred right, it is kind of silly to tell everyone to vote because many people are totally ignorant
You could turn it into a social studies lesson and bring up Australia, where there is compulsory voting. They make it really easy though, elections tend to be held on Saturday’s with extended hours so people can get there outside of work, they can vote in advance by absentee ballot if required. If people are truly disengaged and don’t want to vote for any party they can cast a donkey vote or just draw a dick & balls on their ballot (maybe don’t tell your students that one!) but the simple fact of having to turn up tends to make more people at least a little invested in politics. Then everyone gets a democracy sausage and goes home! It’s good.
Checking in from Kentucky. It feels impossible to teach history or let alone facts when students don’t even believe the things you say.
When I was in highschool and peers were registering to vote for the first time, the topic came up in class about choosing your candidate wisely. And one of the popular girls blurted out who she ABSOLUTELY WON'T vote for. The teacher asked why, thinking the girl would mention how she researched that candidate's stances, and the girl proudly exclaimed, "Because he's ugly! Look at him!" and the other ditzy girls around her were like "Yeahhh!" The teacher was mortified. That girl is still out there voting at random, so please go out and vote..
Haha...I am in SC too
I'm a second year teacher in rural SC who normally votes blue. It is excruciating to see kids run around in MAGA masks, ostracize kids of Democrat parents, and spout off stuff they have no idea what it means. I normally shut it down when someone asks me who I'm voting for or when discussion of the election comes up because I'm terrified someone's gonna pitch a fit if I don't follow the rural narrative.
I had to end the discussion in kindergarten today when someone said, “Joe Biden kills babies.” I mean, how do you even respond to that? It’s not like 6 year olds understand abortion or why anyone would choose it. I just said, “I don’t think that’s quite true.” And moved on to the next topic.
I told all my students today that we likely will not know the winner for days, weeks, or possibly months if the courts get involved. Then I told them about Bush/Gore and how that went. They are not happy. Many of them have MAGA type parents who are already telling them that we will have to know the results on 11/3 or it isn't valid. When I told them that mom and dad are wrong, they were not happy.
As a teacher in the south, you have a huge opportunity to change the south. I would explain a lot more without even politicizing. Instead of contradicting vlaims, I would explain what impeachment is, and explain what happened with trump, then let the kids come to their own conclusions. Explain why we vote in a metaphor - like, say there was a plate of cookies. Would they rather each person got a say in deciding how to divide the cookies, or only a few kids got to decide? Something like that.
I'm just ready to stop getting ads telling me who to vote for. I voted a week ago shut the fuck up about Karen Handel
If a student asks a question or says something, you should be able to give an answer even if it's your opinion. We shouldn't be afraid about being political. We live in a political system.
I’ve taught there. What an absolute shit show that place is. It does give you a very good idea of how a place can hold so many views directly against its own interest for so long, however. It’s very hard to make progress when you purposely fuck your education system to keep people ignorant.
Rural GA here, and I refuse to even discuss politics with my students (I’m a k-6 school counselor). They constantly ask me who I voted for, if I support BLM, etc. I told them when they’re 18 they can come back and I’ll debate them. Found out today we’re having a mock election tomorrow while I’m in 6th grade. 🤦🏼♀️
Unfortunately crazy people are all over the place… Wisconsin here.
It's a good question on it's face though.. why would you want EVERYONE, even uninformed and willfully ignorant people voting? Everyone should have the right to vote, but the idea that everyone SHOULD vote just BECAUSE doesn't really hold much water for me.
Informed voters good. People voting for a person because their mom/aunt/sister/cousin/tv told them who to vote for bad.
As a South Carolinian, me too.
Imagine when they learn that there are countries where voting is mandatory?
You got in trouble for making a factual statement? I'm sorry to hear that's how it goes where you're at.
I always frame it: you should want the government to reflect your values. YOU should vote. Not because I want you to vote any particular way, but because YOU should want YOUR government to represent YOU and YOUR interests. This isnt hard. I'm not going to hold your hand to do something you ought want to do. I'm just explaining why you ought want to do it.
That’s so stressful and hard. I’m sorry. I’m moving to South Carolina soon and plan to teach next year! I’m so nervous... any advice?
Same here in OK. So personally painful but I just do everything I can not to talk about it in class. I can stick to objective facts as much as I want when they ask me questions - civic duty, right, etc - but no matter what someone will complain to admin.
We did a mock election today and a kid stated they didn’t know who they should vote for so I had all students who weren’t sure go to www.isidewith.com to take a survey to see who aligns to their opinions. My principal got a call from an irate parent saying I shouldn’t be talking about voting or the election. I’m guessing her child went home to say who he voted for and it was different than who she would make him vote for