# How should we prepare students for a possible political situation? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 24, 2019, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352 "2019-01-24T21:42:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352/21 "2019-01-25T16:00:02Z")
At my school the students and staff walked out of the building and assembled in the park next to the school. There was a box or milk crate to stand on and we had a microphone and speaker setup. The students all stood around in a circle while the social justice club kids read poems and statements that they had prepared. The adults were around the perimeter. It lasted about an hour and I remember standing there listening to the kids speak their truths and honestly felt more hope for our future than I had in a long time. We were all proud of these kids and really the adults didn’t have much to do with it except for being there and observing. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352/22 "2019-01-25T16:11:25Z")
Be the better person. Fortunately, there will always be groups and individuals at every rally that make this a low standard to meet. If the event gets any coverage, it might be interesting to compare later what the press says vs. what the students observed. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352/23 "2019-01-25T16:13:00Z")
I would say that if you’re taking a busload of kids to washington DC where they plan to wear hats proclaiming outright racism and sexism, to march in favor of treating women as mere incubators for fetuses, and to call women gendered insults like ‘sluts’, you should expect that something is not going to go well. I think that the way you phrased point ‘2’ completely glosses over exactly what the Covington scumbags were in DC to do in the first place. > [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I’d go along with this. I imagine the teen at Covington wishes the day had never happened now. All he thought he was doing was standing there and now he has the attention of millions. What about the part where he was calling women ‘sluts?’ It’s really odd that, on one hand, these ‘kids’ are enough of an authority that they should tell an adult woman what she’s allowed to do with her own body, both by protesting abortion and calling them ‘sluts’, but at the same time are so sweet and innocent that any criticism of them is just mean and uncalled for. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352/24 "2019-01-25T16:28:35Z")
> [@Airbeck](#): > > At my school the students and staff walked out of the building and assembled in the park next to the school. There was a box or milk crate to stand on and we had a microphone and speaker setup. The students all stood around in a circle while the social justice club kids read poems and statements that they had prepared. The adults were around the perimeter. It lasted about an hour and I remember standing there listening to the kids speak their truths and honestly felt more hope for our future than I had in a long time. We were all proud of these kids and really the adults didn’t have much to do with it except for being there and observing. But as you say, adults were present. If a bunch of gun nuts had showed up to heckle them, the adults would have been in a position to keep the students focused. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352/25 "2019-01-25T16:31:10Z")
Yeah and our school police officers were out there as well. But nothing at all happened. It was a very positive event, and thought provoking. ---
**Author:** ![l0k1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@l0k1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/l0k1)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352/26 "2019-01-25T16:38:50Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > I would say that if you’re taking a busload of kids to washington DC where they plan to wear hats proclaiming outright racism and sexism… The hats were probably purchased in DC, probably from street vendors selling them as souvenirs. The hats have become a favorite of ill behaved white kids from out of town, looking to be provocative. A group of white kids wearing the hats went to the The National Museum of African American History in the spring, and conducted themselves poorly, by all accounts. My issue with this march in particular is that the adult organizers don’t even prepare the kids for being in a city or using public transportation. It seems that all they are prepped for is being rude. I never had anyone shout slogans in my face, but my wife did. The worst I got was the brandishing of full-color fetus posters and blocking every means of ingress and egress on every Metro train, station, and platform. It takes a certain amount of privileged naivety to stop walking at the end of an escalator when there are hundreds of people behind you, with no means of stopping. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352/27 "2019-01-25T16:39:21Z")
Seem more like IMHO material than GD so I’m moving it there. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352/28 "2019-01-25T16:58:56Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Be the better person. Fortunately, there will always be groups and individuals at every rally that make this a low standard to meet. > > If the event gets any coverage, it might be interesting to compare later what the press says vs. what the students observed. > > Regards, > Shodan But the students weren’t bused in by the school to observe an event-they were bused in to _be_ an event, active participants in a rally to deny rights. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352/29 "2019-01-25T20:52:54Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > I would say that if you’re taking a busload of kids to washington DC where they plan to wear hats proclaiming outright racism and sexism, to march in favor of treating women as mere incubators for fetuses, and to call women gendered insults like ‘sluts’, you should expect that something is not going to go well. I think that the way you phrased point ‘2’ completely glosses over exactly what the Covington scumbags were in DC to do in the first place. > > What about the part where he was calling women ‘sluts?’ It’s really odd that, on one hand, these ‘kids’ are enough of an authority that they should tell an adult woman what she’s allowed to do with her own body, both by protesting abortion and calling them ‘sluts’, but at the same time are so sweet and innocent that any criticism of them is just mean and uncalled for. Ok. I can see and read your pretty pumped up against Trump, pro lifers, and anyone wearing a MAGA hat. You might even be one of those people who would seek out a confrontation with them. I dont know. The point is, and your right, people WILL go after you for both what your wearing and the cause your there for. You would have to be ready for that. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352/30 "2019-01-25T20:56:40Z")
I think the biggest problems happen when these type of things just pop up and people dont know what to do. In this case a teenager didnt know what to do with a crazy guy banging his drum in his face. Same in other areas we have discussed. Say your trying to get to work and a bunch of people suddenly block your street. What do you do? ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352/31 "2019-01-25T20:59:11Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > But the students weren’t bused in by the school to observe an event-they were bused in to _be_ an event, active participants in a rally to deny rights. Yeah, the innocent phrasing of the OP ignores that the students were being bused in to support forcing poor women to bear babies they don’t want (in many cases the result of rape) at risk to their own health, and engage in the kind of behavior that goes along with that political position like shouting “it’s not rape if you enjoyed it” and calling women “slut”. These were not nice kids, and the chaperones were not enforcing anything that I would consider proper behavior. The fact that the parents of the kids responded not by saying ‘what they hell is wrong with you, how could you cat like that in public?’ but by hiring a PR firm really casts doubt on any claim that the chaperones just didn’t catch that particular bad behavior, as the parents clearly think that such antics are just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352/32 "2019-01-25T20:59:37Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > But the students weren’t bused in by the school to observe an event-they were bused in to _be_ an event, active participants in a rally to deny rights. Which of the two scenarios in the OP are you talking about? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352/33 "2019-01-25T21:02:44Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I think the biggest problems happen when these type of things just pop up and people dont know what to do. In this case a teenager didnt know what to do with a crazy guy banging his drum in his face. > Same in other areas we have discussed. Say your trying to get to work and a bunch of people suddenly block your street. What do you do? If you are going to go someplace for the purpose of antagonizing people, you don’t get to be surprised when people are antagonistic right back atcha. This picture you keep trying to paint of innocent children just standing around and minding their own business is bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352/34 "2019-01-25T21:05:01Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > In either scenario, you teach your kids to not react, but just keep on going on their way, if strangers want to ridicule or confront them. > > In scenario 1, no clothing with words of any sort, and no political or cause-related symbols. That’s the sort of thing that would give some rando something to hang an unpleasant interaction on, so don’t do it. > > In scenario 2, shirts and hats and banners with slogans related to the specific cause they’re marching in support of, but (a) nothing unrelated, and (b) it’s got to be outer layers only so they can be taken off and put away once the march is over. > > While you’re marching, you only have to ignore any hecklers for a minute or two, and then you’ve marched on by and the hecklers are the problem of the people behind you. (Not to mention, you’ve got the safety of numbers.) But afterwards, if you’ve got some time to grab a bite or see the sights, pack your slogans out of sight, so nobody will interact with you because of them. > > And in either scenario, don’t seek out interactions or confrontations with demonstrators for whatever cause. And if things do get heated, look to your chaperones for guidance. (And they’d better **be** there. If not, pull out your phone and _call them_.) I agree with all except #1. That is what marching, protesting, and free speech is all about. That is the most pertinent time when you want to pull out the political clothing, buttons, and hats. That is our freedom as Americans to wear that sort of material and it should not be subject to a heckler’s veto just because someone might start yelling. Anyone that insults you for wearing pro-life, pro-choice, pro-Trump, pro-Hillary or anything else that represents your political beliefs is an asshole and kids need to be taught young, while under supervision, how to deal with assholes in the world. They are going to have to learn eventually. Better to do it under supervision than get hurled into it once they turn 18. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352/35 "2019-01-25T21:08:34Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > The point is, and your right, people WILL go after you for both what your wearing and the cause your there for. If you go out spoling for a fight, you’ll eventually find one. Would you really expect a bunch of kids shouting pro-life slogans like “It’s not rape if you enjoyed it” or “slut” NOT to end up with some kind of confrontation by the end of the day? Incidentally, why won’t you acknowledge what they were shouting instead of dancing around it? I mean, what’s so hard about “don’t allow the kids to shout provocative things like ‘it’s not rape if she enjoyed it’ and ‘slut’, even when it’s directed at groups like individual women who are unlikely to go after them, because it means they’re bound to end up in a bad situation eventually”. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352/36 "2019-01-25T21:24:56Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Anyone that insults you for wearing pro-life, pro-choice, pro-Trump, pro-Hillary or anything else that represents your political beliefs is an asshole and kids need to be taught young, while under supervision, how to deal with assholes in the world. They are going to have to learn eventually. Better to do it under supervision than get hurled into it once they turn 18. Are there any “political beliefs” that are so offensive that you think would be reasonable to expect some insults and verbal push back? Should the Klan or American Nazi’s be subjected to “We don’t want you in our town” kind of peaceful chants? Or would those peaceful (but vocal) counter-protesters be considered assholes? And, if someone loves America, wouldn’t they view “MAGA” the same way? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352/37 "2019-01-25T21:38:21Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Are there any “political beliefs” that are so offensive that you think would be reasonable to expect some insults and verbal push back? Should the Klan or American Nazi’s be subjected to “We don’t want you in our town” kind of peaceful chants? Or would those peaceful (but vocal) counter-protesters be considered assholes? > And, if someone loves America, wouldn’t they view “MAGA” the same way? Of course not and the very idea is absurd. There is absolutely no equivalency between a MAGA hat and a swastika. That you would suggest such a thing is atrocious. I get that you don’t like the President. That’s fine, and that is absolutely your right. But to equate his supporters, all of them, with Nazism is beneath you and is beneath the ideals of a healthy democracy. Can we expect this in every future election? My side is great and your side hates America? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352/38 "2019-01-25T21:44:02Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Of course not and the very idea is absurd. There is absolutely no equivalency between a MAGA hat and a swastika. That you would suggest such a thing is atrocious. > > I get that you don’t like the President. That’s fine, and that is absolutely your right. But to equate his supporters, all of them, with Nazism is beneath you and is beneath the ideals of a healthy democracy. All of his supporters wear MAGA hats? Wow! ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352/39 "2019-01-25T23:15:16Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > I get that you don’t like the President. That’s fine, and that is absolutely your right. But to equate his supporters, all of them, with Nazism is beneath you and is beneath the ideals of a healthy democracy. All of his supporters are cool enough with Nazism that they are willing to support a president who refuses to actually condemn outright swastika-wearing Nazis when they kill people in the streets, and instead calls them “very good people”. When the guy you support defends actual ‘wearing swastikas and giving the Hitler salute’ Nazis, your outrage at people pointing out the Nazi connection becomes absurd. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352/40 "2019-01-25T23:30:12Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Of course not and the very idea is absurd. There is absolutely no equivalency between a MAGA hat and a swastika. That you would suggest such a thing is atrocious. > > I get that you don’t like the President. That’s fine, and that is absolutely your right. But to equate his supporters, all of them, with Nazism is beneath you and is beneath the ideals of a healthy democracy. > > Can we expect this in every future election? My side is great and your side hates America? I’m saying that some political speech is so obnoxious that push back against it foreseeable and acceptable. Certainly, a MAGA hat is not a swastika, but they are both “over the line” of acceptable. (A swastika is further over the line, I will grant you.) I’m not saying they should be banned or that the people with MAGA hats should have any fear of violence directed against them. They should know, however–in no uncertain terms-- that they’ve crossed the line of decent discourse and that a sizable number of their fellow Americans look at them with disgust and scorn. We can’t have a “healthy democracy” under current conditions. Trump is that corrupt and incompetent. When he is gone, we can try our best to have civil discussions with “normal” conservatives (and we can forgive, perhaps, their sucking up to Trump). People like Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, or even more conservative people are not the enemy. I think, in the long run, the Trump fiasco will bring us back to a time when “normal” Democrats and “normal” Republicans can work together again for the common good. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-we-prepare-students-for-a-possible-political-situation/828352.md?page=3)