Thirty-seven teachers from Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennesseegathered at The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center in Nashville, Tenn.,in November for a conference designed to give them materials and trainingto better teach their students about the First Amendment.
Some would regard the effort as quixotic. Finding ways to teach freedomin an environment that offers little is a real challenge.
For all intents and purposes, the nation’s schools are in educationallockdown. In the eyes of the public, the government and sometimes the courts,the nation’s schools are in the same category as prisons and the military.In other words, safety, discipline and uniformity trump all educationalgoals, including the teaching of civics.
Teachers, as well as students, check their First Amendment rights atthe schoolhouse door.
Parental fears, administrative dictates, curriculum demands and state-imposedstandards crowd out the sort of lessons that prepare young people to fullyfunction as informed citizens in the real world.
Every teacher at the conference seemed to have a sad tale to tell abouthow young minds and exuberant expectations were not just stifled but punished.Some of their stories:
- Students expelled — or even arrested — for successfully responding toclass assignments.
- Candid answers in class discussions resulting in a trip to the principal’soffice, then home.
- Students suspended for openly wearing religious symbols or T-shirts withpolitical slogans.
- Student newspapers routinely censored and shut down.
- Students punished for material they post on their own Web pages at home.