To the editor:
As a Social Studies teacher, I’ve loved facilitating debates on American History, American Government, and current events. In the last few years, I’ve really strayed away from students covering current events for two reasons. The first being that we are so divided and learn from our politicians and talking heads on the news that if you disagree with someone, calling him or her “deplorable” or “snowflake” is the proper way to debunk their point, instead of using logic, reason, and research. The second reason is that students can form a point of view and find “facts” that support their point of view; even facts that are total opposite of each other. With an infinite amount of information claiming to be vetted and “expert,” it makes it difficult for me to tell a student that their information they are using to support their arguments isn’t valid.
I watched a video of a young man demonstrating this phenomenon. He took the non-divisive issue of coffee drinking, and found separate medically-backed articles saying that coffee both can cause blindness and improve vision. Depending on your already-held point of view, you can find information to support it; even if there is contradicting information debunking your claim or supporting the opposite point of view.
This serves only to drive a wedge even farther between a nation and world which is already divided. I want my students to understand that everything is ambiguous; and that very few issues are black and white. We live in a time where our facts are the only facts that matter; any other presented are not valid. Our younger generations are going to continue to live in a world where reality is debated, and if we can’t agree on reality, we’ll never be able to come to any agreements, let alone compromises, and how to deal with some of our realities today. I pray for our children, our country, and our world that God will heal the division between us and help us to understand each other better.
Zachary Kaiser
New Ulm