Millennials and their families are quite aware of the problems the American education system has been trying to cope with for about a decade. Most citizens are aware of the standardized tests that their children must take to get funding for their district and even to get further along on their path to higher education. Public school districts are struggling to meet standards due to outdated facilities and a lack of necessary resources. The students being educated in these conditions then have to face the daunting process of being accepted into an institution of higher learning. The stress of having a sufficient GPA, scoring well on more standardized tests, and preparing for the debt associated with attending a college or university can paralyze a student with anxiousness. But after all of the stress and anxiety they finally get there; the world is their oyster. One may expect the piece at this point to turn to concerns such as sexual assault, drug use, and the cost of college but there is a much greater threat to the education of students.

When a student at any step of their education is presented with information, it is the job of the instructor to provide that information in a way that their audience can register the material regardless of their frame of reference. At the end of any lesson, students should be able to take the information presented to them, find a way to make it relevant to their own lives, and use it to improve themselves and their perspective on the topic. This is the essence of what education should be in the most general terms. Recently though, a cultural has developed in the United States that threatens to upset the very foundation of learning.

Around the country parents and students are up in arms over various subjects and texts that they believe are offensive or contrary to their beliefs. Examples that have gotten the most publicity include a piece of legislation that would require schools to warn students about material that may be distressing or challenge established thinking. The bill, in fairness, was centered on sexually explicit material, but New Hampshire’s Governor Maggie Hassan saw it as a stepping stone for inhibiting student education in the classroom. There are already established laws that allow parents to exempt their child from materials they do not want them to experience. A better known example is the Duke University student who refused to read the optional reading text on the grounds that viewing the sexually explicit images in the book would force him to go against his belief system. Setting aside the fact that the book was optional, this student gained a great deal of support from people of several creeds and directed substantial amounts of pressure and hate toward the school.

This movement of censorship and selective education is the greatest threat to American education. Materials that are explicit or shocking are uncomfortable and uneasy, but that’s the point. If students do not experience the more primitive and ghastly realities of the human condition, then they are likely to repeat the materials that they or their parents decided to opt out of. Challenging one’s preconceived notions of a topic with facts and the opinions of others allows a student to understand the full complexity of it. Refusing to embrace facts or outside perspective only breeds narrow-minded people who are unable to fully understand complex issues. The issue of warnings and censorship is more than just an issue of overprotective and zealous parenting, it is a greater cultural problem that currently seems to have no solution.

Beyond partisanship, people in America have developed a mentality that their point of view and faith (or lack of one) are the absolute truths of the universe. These people then send their children off to school and become infuriated when a teacher tries to present the student’s class with material that is contrary to their way of thinking. That student will eventually go off to a place of higher education and refuse to acknowledge most of the material their professors give them. This vicious cycle of selective ignorance is a recipe for disaster. If a family or student decides that they do not want to have their beliefs challenged then they have no place in a serious institution of education. If an individual believes that the morals and principles that their belief system provides are sufficient, or are the absolute truth, then they should continue on that path without using resources other students need. The student from Duke University is occupying a spot in a prestigious school that could be filled by another student who is willing to embrace all aspects of an education the school has to offer. It seems foolish that this student would take on the debt of a college education and not make use of the array of opportunities for greater thinking and learning available to a college student. The ultimate crisis of this situation though, is that the education of other students in the classroom is jeopardized by people who act like this.

School districts, colleges, and instructors are going to become increasingly hesitant of what topics they address in the classroom and what materials they use to provide information on these topics. This means that this zealous minority, who has no interest in the material, is going to prevent others from getting the full context of a subject. Once this ball starts rolling we will be well under way in creating a society that is ignorant and lacks any empathy. When one only understands their own perspective on life, has no experience in what their peers are going through, or what has happened around an issue historically, they will be completely unprepared to deal with life on their own. As an adult it is impossible to live in our own bubble of idealism and self-righteousness. Eventually, the rest of the world comes knocking on our door. In a world that is more connected than ever and growing increasingly complex, shouldn’t we want our students to be as prepared to face it as possible?

While I rarely do this in a piece, I want to take a moment here to give my take on censorship and warnings in education. This is an issue I take to heart because of the less than common education I received. After going to 2 middle schools and 3 high schools in various communities, one could say that I’ve had the opportunity to meet all kinds of people and learn their thoughts on life. When you meet as many people as this, you start to value the unique perspectives everyone has on the world and see that nobody is right, not even yourself. The reality of American history is that we were founded on bickering and mostly reasoned debate. People would gather to debate what they thought the best course of the nation was and they educated themselves on the issues the country was facing so they could formulate their own solution to the issue. To this day we’re still bickering but the difference is we have no intention of hearing out the other side. People around the world yearn to go to college or even receive a rudimentary education. They dream of reading great works and becoming literate in a multiplicity of topics. Compare that to the attitude American students and families are showing and we should be embarrassed. As a people we have founded what is undoubtedly the greatest state which has ever existed. We have endured countless trials starting from our revolution and managed to come out bruised but still up for a fight. Globally, people flock to America because of the desire to become learned, to work, raise a family that will get the same experience, and then be better off than them. It is because of this history I learned in public school, the feelings I learned from those I’ve met, and those who are actually resistance to these ideals, that I feel ashamed and insulted.

As an American I feel ashamed that during my experience as a student I have not fought harder to prevent this kind of censorship. I feel ashamed that I didn’t try harder to open up the casing of a narrow-minded student’s bubble and show them the wonder the rest of the class had to offer. I feel insulted because after accepting your opinion and contemplating it, you dismiss mine as false or ignorant. I feel insulted that you would undermine the opportunities of your peers because something does not go according to what you believe. But most of all, I feel something that can almost be described as longing. You are my peer, a fellow classmate, a fellow citizen, and you don’t have any desire to acknowledge who I am. I will always provide you with respect. I will hear out your thoughts and reasoning as long as you are willing to provide it. Why are you unwilling to grant me the same courtesy?