Those attacking teachers: Walk a mile in their shoes
The zealots of the GOP pay lip service to the atrocities in Ukraine, while in their next breath, they champion Putin’s authoritarian tactics in our own country by criminalizing free speech and marginalizing opposition. Is this the democracy you want?
As the Republicans in the Ohio legislature compete with Florida and Texas to be the most extremist state in the Union, children suffer.
The Ohio GOP’S latest attack on free speech, the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, criminalizes speech in schools about sexual orientation and gender identity which will have the effect of further marginalizing children and teachers who identify as LGBTQ or whose family members do.
This, along with the equally ambiguous bill which attacks speech about race and systemic inequality, undermines the teaching profession because no teacher will want to be sued over acknowledging a child’s two moms or teaching that the enslavement of Black people by white people was anything less than an abomination.
If the loud minority of politicians and parents feel so strongly that they understand how and what should be taught in schools, then I urge them to volunteer their time for a day in an urban public school classroom.
You would see for yourself what an incredibly challenging job teachers have and the brilliance, creativity, and professionalism with which they do it.
As a parent of Columbus public school children who also volunteers in the schools, I can tell you that you will see K-12 classrooms packed to the gills with too many children, many of whom are dealing with significant mental health issues from the trauma of the past 2 years or chronic stress from living in poverty.
In order to teach reading and math, teachers must first triage the most pressing issues of public safety and wear the hats of therapist, social worker, and nurse.
When teachers finally get home long after the 3:30 bell rings, they get to read in the newspaper that the zealots in the Statehouse are drumming up votes among their base with accusations that teachers are “grooming” students into being victims of pedophilia by acknowledging the existence of LGBTQ people in our society, as well as making white children “feel bad” about their race.
Do we wonder why there is a shortage of teachers in America?
To Ohio’s teachers, I applaud you.
What you do each day is nothing less than heroic. Please know how much you are valued by the vast majority of children and their parents. I also know that words of gratitude are not enough to help you sustain your own mental health in a job that gets more stressful by the day.
I hope that politicians will see clear of their next election cycle in order to exact the systemic changes that teachers need in order to get back to what they do best, which is educating children.
To Ohio Republican voters, your party has succeeded in marginalizing the voice of the opposition party through gerrymandering.
If you value democracy, only you can turn this tide of criminalizing free speech by calling your elected officials and voting for the more moderate members of your party.
The zealots of the GOP pay lip service to the atrocities in Ukraine, while in their next breath, they champion Putin’s authoritarian tactics in our own country by criminalizing free speech and marginalizing opposition. Is this the democracy you want? If not, you must speak up.
Anne Comarda is a licensed independent social worker and certified mindfulness and yoga teacher. She teaches mindfulness and yoga to children and their teachers in Columbus City Schools.