Creating Citizens to Make us Proud: Expecting Civil Discourse

At FWCD, we want our students to be able to disagree. We want them to do so with our core values of respect and kindness in mind. I worry that the modeling of the bigger adult world in 2018 is neither respectful nor kind. As I suspect you do, I fear that incivility rules discourse today.

While we at school cannot take the blame for a societal slide, we also cannot take a pass and blame others if our students try-on or, worse yet, adopt an uncivil model. We need to be able to have “controversial” topics come up in classes and in assemblies. We need to model a respectful sharing of our different opinions; and, we need to have consequences when community members cross a line.

I write this in part thinking of the results of this week’s midterm elections. Students are certainly allowed to be happy or sad at the outcome. Whatever their reaction, my point is that we have to expect civility in their discussions. Talking to other school heads as to how other school communities are navigating the civility challenge, I was especially impressed by a northeastern boarding school’s club composed of students representing a spectrum of opinions on various topics. This club was charged with presenting in assemblies the spectrum of stances they have on controversial issues. I keep exploring options for us and continue wanting to model for our students better than what they see and hear beyond the berm.