Editorial: Discussion, flexibility belong in classrooms in light of election results
Credit: Dragon Press Editorial Board
November 10, 2016
Here is what we know. We know that more than 70 percent of Foothill students did not want a Trump presidency. We know that across the country, minority groups are being faced with violence and discrimination. These groups and the 70 percent overlap. In our community, a victory for some has been a devastating loss for many.
Many of us on the Dragon Press have found ourselves stunned and lost – we catch ourselves staring at our feet and thinking about the future, hearing the radio but not really listening, reading poetry, doing mundane tasks to distract ourselves, and most importantly, contemplating. Some of us have sat at the dinner table and talked for hours with our families.
Thinking, researching and discussing is the healthiest thing we can do. However, we feel that teachers everywhere should be taking extra care to support students in these tough times, especially minority students who directly deal with the ramifications of America’s decision.
We understand the need for rigorous study, but this week is different. Now is the time for activism, research, rallies, resting and creating art. It is a time for us to evaluate what it means to be an American and for us to deeply examine human nature. With all due respect, calculus, APUSH, physics and physiology have been pushed to the back burner for some students.
Regardless of political ideology, teachers should respect students’ time to process their emotions. They will resist regardless of whether or not it is allowed or encouraged by their school’s administration. To refuse to acknowledge that is to say that activism, compassion and political involvement have no place in school, which is a statement we vehemently disagree with.
We believe there should be flexibility in the classroom this week, whether that is holding socratic discussions, allowing students to make up points from assignments they fell behind on this week or speaking with them at lunch.
In general, teachers at Foothill have been doing a great job. But these concepts apply to places of education across the country. Not all teachers are as respectful as ours.
Thank you a million times over to the teachers who have taken time out of their schooldays to talk about the election, and who have created respectful safe spaces for minority students. Thank you to the teachers who have put political bias aside in favor of collective discussion.
But please, go the extra mile. Support students who need to be with their families. Support students who are out on the streets rallying. Support students of color, LGBT+ students, Muslim students, disabled students and young women. Support students who don’t know what to think and need time.
Support them not only with your words but with your actions, and do not penalize them for being invested in this democracy.
Editorials reflect a majority opinion of the Editorial Review Board and are written collaboratively.
Michael Sanchez • Nov 11, 2016 at 11:08 pm
“Support students who are out on the streets rallying”, that quote is an indication of the entire Dragon Press voicing opinion against Donald Trump, his win in the election, and Trump supporters. I don’t always like Donald Trump, but neither do I support the corrupt establishment politician of Hillary Clinton either. If it’s going to be an editorial, it should have no indication whatsoever what side they are on. And the fact that the Dragon Press ENCOURAGED students to take action when supporting the students who are out on the streets against rallying Trump is absolutely disrespecting the students at Foothill who actually supported Trump. Don’t get me wrong, but I know a lot of people at Foothill Technology who are Trump supporters and I completely understood why they voted for Trump. Of course he made some prejudice and concerning remarks regarding Muslims, Mexicans, and Women but that is not the reason why the supporters I talked with did so. It was because of Hillary Clinton, which is understandable because she is the most CORRUPT and war loving politician that America has ever seen since Richard Nixon. Also, what I don’t understand is that why people are not listening closely to what Donald Trump has ever said in his campaigns and how much, overtime, he was downgrading his extreme remarks. For example, after the devastating terrorist attack that occurred in Orlando which killed 50 people which most of them are homosexuals, America was in shock and devastated especially considering the fact that the way these people want to live by have become the most recent accepted group in the U.S. so far. Donald was among those Americans who were shocked as he felt sympathy for the people, most of them gays, who were killed off by the shootings. As a result, he made a proposal that Muslims immigrating into America should not be allowed to enter until they figured out what the hell is going on, and he did that for the concern of the safety of the American people, which is reasonable considering that it happened the day after the most tragic terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11. Basically, even though that remark is rather extreme and hurtful to the Muslim population, many Americans however, were so horrified and angry by the attacks that was caused by a single Muslim terrorist that they wanted stricter security of Muslim immigrants entering the country so that events like these would never happen again. Thus Donald Trump used the anger of millions of Americans who were horrified by the attacks by making a exaggerating statement of all Muslims immigrating to America would not be allowed to enter until the government realized what the hell is going on. Trump did not say that banning Muslims from entering the country would be permanent but he said that the ban would be temporary until the government realize what was going on meaning it would not be long before Muslims are finally allowed to enter into the country. This remark occurred after the day of the event that killed 50 gays by a Muslim terrorist folks, and America was scared and paranoid. As days went by, furthering away from the terrible event, Donald Trump and the American people began to settle with their reactions more rationally. This is rather true as Trump later applied to only refugees of war torn countries who are not allowed to enter into the United States until the government acknowledge anything about what’s going on and lift the ban on these certain countries. Same thing with the remarks he made about the Mexican people, Trump DID NOT say that ALL Mexicans are bringing drugs, that they are bringing crime, and the fact that they are rapists, he meant the Latinos who are illegally entering the United States who are poor, desperate, and unable to feed their families, are the ones who are bringing drugs, because of the massive influence of Drug Cartels that are rampant throughout Mexico, Central America, and South America, and that they are bringing crime, because of the fact that they are poor and desperate and usually the areas with the highest crime rates are also the areas with the lowest average income and the highest rates of poverty. People need to be aware about the state of the U.S.-Mexican border that it is today. A couple of decades ago, it used to be much easier to enter the U.S. illegally because it was before the digital age, and things like computers and the internet were just being introduced. Now, the border is much tighter due to advanced technology and improvements on security of the border and stricter laws on immigration, making illegal immigration much harder as it is today. As a result, the number of illegal immigrants declined sharply as it was much harder to cross the border, with the borders being more tight than it was a couple of decades ago it meant that the people who actually did cross the more tight border are much more desperate enough to be willing to take the risk of crossing the border which meant that these are families are way more extremely poor than the illegal immigrants who enter America a couple of decades ago. Donald Trump meant that specific group of illegal immigrants who entered the United States illegally recently, not the immigrants who easily entered the United States illegally back in the 90’s and earlier which my Mom was among those people as she easily enter the United States illegally back in the late 80’s as border patrol was not that tight as it was today. He meant the illegals who enter the country NOW. These groups of people only made up about 5 percent of the total Latino population who are living in America today. Don’t get be wrong, but the illegal immigration crisis taken place on the U.S. – Mexican border is a SEVERE humanitarian crisis and it needs to be solved. Especially you have refugees from Central and South America who are fleeing from their war torn countries, hopping onto a train, and illegally entering the country in hopes of living in America and living the American dream as to them, America is the promise land that has full of opportunities and freedom. But these people are taking risks, some of them were being taken to the border by illegal drug cartels as the presence of drug cartels in Latin America are very high and attempting to enter the United States by crossing through a dangerous, heavy patrolled, tight border, where the climate is hot and dry, as most of the border is in the desert and these people are suffering. This is a problem and it needs to solved. So what I am trying to say about Donald Trump? Well the reason why I brought up the Immigration issue and the reactions of Americans following the Orlando Attack, which don’t get me wrong, is similar to how we react to 9/11, is because the remarks Donald Trump made that caused most minorities and Clinton supporters to protest against Trump (and the fact that he was elected president) in the first place is because they don’t think closely to what he is exactly talking about and what exact groups of people is he exactly talking about. I believe if they think about the humanitarian crisis involving immigration, fears of terrorism, Trump trying to use the anger of a typical American, and the fact that Trump was becoming increasingly more rational as time goes by, they’ll probably understand more but still protest anyway because of the fact that he is a business man who does not deserve to be in office and has less political experience. I don’t not like Trump and neither do I like Hillary. So Foothill Dragon Press, let’s not use that quote “Support students who are out on the streets rallying”, because it tells me that you guys are rejecting Donald Trump, supporting the corrupt Hillary Clinton, not noticing that we have Trump supporters in our campus thus not being neutral between Trump and Clinton and being too one sided against Trump and for Clinton, and be more appreciative with the diversity of the student body at Foothill Technology. Instead of “Support students who are out on the streets rallying” against Trump, type “for Clinton supporters, support students who are disappointed with the election results and at the same time, accept that Donald Trump is our president”. I mean do want to support people who are rallying out on the streets against Trump who may be become violent. Just for safety, do not attend those protests because it may hurt your life, you’ll most likely break rules, especially if you have police coming in your way. So it’s best to voice your say in a more proper manner, like talking about it with your family, friends, and teachers, not taking it out in the streets. Because that is a bad recommendation Dragon Press.
Conni Carr • Nov 11, 2016 at 2:12 pm
In my classes this week, I linked various sites that showed results for local, state and national elections then gave students time to look and reflect. I asked for discussion to happen outside of class as I wished students to have private time with their reactions before being pressured by others to share.