Do Discomfort, Anguish, and Divisive Concepts Belong in the Classroom? A Conversation about Free Speech in Public Schools (Ep. 22)

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Since 2020, nearly 20 states have passed legislation prohibiting public school educators from teaching “divisive concepts” or any content that might cause students to feel “discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress” because of their race or sex. Florida and several other states have also adopted new policies that ban instruction about gender and sexual identity, and teachers who violate these policies can be sued, fired and, in some cases, have their licenses to teach revoked.

Critics say these laws violate free speech protections, and participants in this episode say they limit opportunities for students to have civil and productive conversations about issues that may, at times, be controversial or unsettling. “It's impossible to teach history in a way that'll make sure nobody's ever feeling uncomfortable,” says history professor Sophia Rosenfeld. “Slavery, for instance, is a fact of American history. If you leave it out of the curriculum, you've misrepresented our past. It's bound to make people feel uncomfortable…It should make people feel uncomfortable.” Deborah Appleman, a professor of education and former high school teacher, adds, “You can't learn about the Holocaust or learn about slavery without feeling discomfort, guilt, and anguish.”

Libby Snowden, a college senior, offers this perspective: “A lot of the terms used in that legislation tend to be very broad and lead to a chilling effect … where we have teachers who are afraid to bring up certain topics in class because they don't know what counts as divisive or inappropriate for the age group. I think that really speaks to the value of the local community, school boards, parents being involved and really having conversations about what is being taught in classrooms. We have shifting cultural norms right now. It is becoming much more socially acceptable to have gay characters in children's movies, gay characters in books...It's really important to engage with each other about how we are going to handle that in our schools.”

Snowden also believes students must feel comfortable sharing unpopular opinions. “I can think of situations in high school where somebody expressed a viewpoint in class, and even if it wasn't maybe pounced on in the moment, there was chatter in the hallways, there were social media posts, word would get around. I definitely think it is the responsibility of the teacher to set the expectations and the ground rules.”
Later, speaking about her current experience as a college students, Snowden says, “I've been really lucky. I've gotten to be involved in an organization that's all about free speech and intellectual diversity on campus. Every week we host events that we bring in largely conservative speakers on an otherwise very liberal-minded campus. It's awesome. People come in, listen to the speaker, and hear what they have to say. We don't get disrupted when we have question and answer. We have respectful questions, and even if they are challenging, they're asked in good faith.”

Appleman says these kinds of learning experiences must begin when children are young. “If students don't learn how to do it early on, then no wonder they have issues expressing themselves freely and with civility when they're in high school and college. I don't think it's ever too early to teach kids, number one, to speak their mind and two, to not hurt people when they're doing it.”