Politics are one of the most popular topics of discussion in America. A lot of discussion is about poll results and who people believe will win. In order to see how people are expected to vote, a big factor is political party. Generally, if someone’s parents are liberal, they’ll become liberal, and, if someone’s parents are conservative, they’ll become conservative. Because of this, the environment people are raised in has a drastic impact on what political party they end up joining and, in conjunction, who they vote for.
When asked what they thought about the soon to be former president, a student (who asked to remain anonymous) replied, ”I feel like [Biden] was left in a very tough position economically, but, in some cases, he could’ve done a better job.” The news outlets families consume have a wide variety. This same student said their family consumes “CNN, BBC, the Economist, the Financial Times, New York Times, Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal.” Three of the outlets this student watches are focused on money, and this student’s opinion about presidents is closely related to how the economy performed under that president. This shows how a family’s choice of news outlet can impact a person’s political outlook.
But, what about teachers? Under federal law, teachers can not publicly say something that impacts their ability to educate students. Teachers have the right to free speech, like the rest of American society, but when does the line get drawn if what a teacher says “impacts” students get drawn? Teachers are not perfect and sometimes share political opinions in class when they are not supposed to. An anonymous student said, ”Yes, [a teacher] started yapping about Trump [when] he came into [a different teacher’s] class.” Some of these opinions are just disregarded by students instead of changing how students think about politics. The same anonymous student said, “It didn’t, because I believed the things he said were mostly correct.” This student said that what the teacher said reinforced their political beliefs.
Teachers have a right to free speech, but teachers also have a duty to teach students. If an outburst a teacher had in class or a comment they left on a social media post generates backlash that makes it impossible for that teacher to teach effectively, then that teacher usually gets fired. What happens if a student does the same thing? Do they get switched into a different class, get suspended, or expelled? One thing is for sure: as long as politics affect peoples’ daily lives, politics will also affect schools and students.
