Sincerely respond to sensitive topics

IT IS absurd that a Grade 9 learner faced a disciplinary hearing for asking her history teacher to explain the meaning of the k-word. Apparently, the teacher’s response was that it had “something to do with religion and nonbelievers”.

The learner was right to press him for a fuller explanation… although the word initially had that meaning, we all know that it came to have a different meaning – and one that is worthwhile exploring in a history class.

The learner was simply asking about the word, which is a very different thing to using the word in a malicious context.

As a teacher, I am well aware that a pupil might ask a difficult question in an attempt to attract attention or fluster a teacher, but this question was about as teachable a moment as one could hope for.

Advocate Mohamed Ameermia of the South African Human Rights Commission bizarrely said the pupil should be given counselling to sensitise her “to the lived experience of people in the past who were called those names.”

What she really needs – what all learners need – are teachers who feel prepared and free to sincerely and respectfully respond to sensitive topics.

Words are powerful tools, and, like the k-word, have the potential to do terrible damage. But they are also our best weapons against ignorance and prejudice.

It is not by fear-mongering, banning and censorship, but rather through open and constructive discussion that we come to better understand one another and the world in which we live.