A Lesson on Electoral Compassion
Upon entering the classroom today the students were buzzing, no, not buzzing- hyped up! The election results were in high debate as they streamed into the classroom. I had mentioned to a colleague earlier this morning that I wasn’t going to touch the election issue because I personally had a very emotional response to it and didn’t think I would be able to contain my disappointment and bias. I really thought the buzz would die down as they morning went on, however that was not the case. My day plan was thrown out the window when the students continued to discuss, debate and argue over the results, that I knew we had to address it. I started with a question that linked to our previous day remembrance day talks of patriotism. Did you watch the election, what do you know and how do you feel? I asked students to give proof for their opinion to support their stance. There were so many important components to addressing this topic with professionalism. I wanted to encourage students to state an opinion with a reason for thinking so. I needed to ensure they learned how to accept others beliefs and thoughts respectively and also modeled how to politely disagree with others appropriately.
I think I was most shocked by the level of student knowledge and interest in the American election. It goes to show how dependent we are on American culture and media. It also proves that little eyes and brains are in fact watching, aware and they are looking to make sense of this World we live in.
The students responses were interesting, they said things like : “Trump is a racist and everything I have ever learned says that’s wrong to treat people that way”, one student adamantly stated “Trump disgusts me with the way he talks to people, why is he yelling and so angry all the time he comes across as someone who doesn’t respect other people and is really greedy”, and one student added that “neither candidate was innocent but Hilary was a good leader because she shows compassion to more people.”
Our community is a large military based one and so I was curious how that perspective would play into the topic of freedom, war, and immigrants. My heart was warmed with many of the insightful opinions held. A young lady brought up some really compassionate thoughts by saying “Sometimes America represents a better life for people who go there, it’s not fair that they would deny someone from that opportunity. Also immigrants bring new ideas and culture to our country and creates diversity, why wouldn’t we want that around us?”
After a fantastic discussion, we read a book called “The Enemy: a book about Peace” by Davide Cali and Serge Bloch. The book highlights the pointlessness of war and how enemy’s are often more similar then we believe. I was impressed by the high level of articulation when students spoke of people being the same and relatable to one another but that in war we overlook such commonalities.
I will admit, this morning I started the day emotional, angry and unsettled by the recent election results from my own personal belief system but after breaking down the issues with the next generation I can say my hope is restored they will continue to see things objectively and continue to have beautiful hearts that appreciate and value acceptance and equality moving forward.