I’m proud of my students and their courageous activism

By Kathy Latour

Asa community member, as a mother and as a teacher, I feel compelled to respond to a recent upsurge in negative commentary in our community regarding the activism of our teenagers.

The role a community plays in raising our children cannot be underestimated. I feel especially lucky to have watched my children flourish and grow up in Saranac Lake, our small, upstate New York town. Most of the time, small towns have a special sense of camaraderie and in-it-togetherness that makes us feel we belong there. Every once in a while, however, divisive issues arise, and that sense of togetherness can be shattered. A community is meant to be a safe place for our children to grow, explore and come into their own. It is our duty to support our youth and encourage their engagement in the larger world, whether we agree with their opinions or not.

A community is meant to be a safe place for our children to grow, explore and come into their own. It is our duty to support our youth and encourage their engagement in the larger world, whether we agree with their opinions or not.

As a mother of two teenagers, I have tried to instill in my children important values. I want them to know that they must always follow their hearts, that they must believe in themselves, that they are capable of making a difference in this world, and that they should bravely face obstacles that are bound to obstruct their paths. These are traits that will help them find happiness and overcome difficulties when they leave the safety of our community.

But as a high school teacher who is honored to have day-to-day encounters with our local youth, the lack of understanding regarding who our teens are today disheartens me. Many voices have commented on social media outlets claiming teenagers need to be put back in their place because they aren’t old enough to vote, and therefore have no right to be politically active. Some of these claims even suggest our students are sheep being herded unthinkingly by adults with agendas.

While I am certain that the majority of people in our country do not feel this way, often it is this perpetuation of negative stereotypes about our teens that echoes the loudest throughout social media and cuts the deepest into the sinew of inspiration and momentum supporting these young, new activists. As a teacher who works with teenagers every day and makes it my mission to get to know these students, I can assure you that those negative misconceptions are wrong! Teens today are engaged. They are passionate. They are caring. They are knowledgeable. They are critical thinkers. They are what we want our future to be! Our students are not mindless followers. They have minds of their own and the wherewithal to express their opinions respectfully.

Teens today are engaged. They are passionate. They are caring. They are knowledgeable. They are critical thinkers. They are what we want our future to be!

I would like to assure those outspoken cybercynics who so aggressively complain about our intelligent, courageous young people: School is not a place where students are expected to thoughtlessly sit in class and do whatever the teacher tells them to, but rather a place that encourages dialogue, critical thinking and respect!

A brief example may illustrate this best. Just recently in our 10th-grade classrooms, students studied the Bill of Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Along with this task, we delved into current events in our country and in our world to become more informed on these issues. For the culminating activity, the classes held Socratic seminars in which students led discussions to explore many of these controversial issues that are so prominent in our world today. I swell with pride when I recall the ability of my students to have these difficult conversations openly and respectfully. Yes, there was intense disagreement, but there was also an open-mindedness and acceptance of differing opinions that are essential to a thriving society.

This type of activity is not the exception in our schools but rather the norm. Please, before you make degrading statements about our teenagers, and their passions and desires and goals, make sure you are knowledgeable about the issues and activities you are so profusely denigrating.

Kathy Latour, a member of the Saranac Lake (N.Y.) Teachers Association, teaches English and psychology at Saranac Lake High School.

This blog post is re-published with permission from AFT Voices. Read the original post. To learn more about AFT's Schoolhouse Voices from PreK-12 public educators, visit: https://aftvoices.org/school-house-voices/home. Follow on Twitter @rweingarten or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AFTunion.