We shuttle a local high school kid back and forth to a basketball training session a couple times of week, and it's always a Q&A about school. Yesterday, I asked him "So what are teachers doing to help you understand what's going on in the election right now?" 1/

He kind of chuckled. "They're not talking about it at all. They're afraid to. It's basically like nothing is happening." 2/

I'm wondering...is this widespread? Are we unable to have difficult conversations about politics, social unrest, economic inequity, and environmental crisis in school? Are we scared of the nuance of those conversations? The lack of a "right answer?" 3/

And to what extent are we teaching kids that yes, there are facts, that there is truth, that there are things that we all have to agree on if we are to survive as a democracy? That there are ways to discern reality from fiction? 4/

The pandemic uncovered a whole bunch of problems in our systems, and this election is unfortunately uncovering even more. We won't be able to ameliorate them if we can't discuss them honestly and completely in school with the kids who will have to deal with them. #justsayin 5/