Recently I visited the Minnesota State Capitol Building in order to watch the House in session. It was a beautiful day in Saint Paul and yet another rally was taking place. A passerby told me and others that this was a gathering of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) groups. I don’t remember the sticker he was sporting and I didn’t care. They have a right to rally and lobby just as I had done a few weeks earlier voicing my political views at the Tea Party. However, it seems the two rallies differed in their message. The GLBT groups want more government interference, while we stress our need for less government intrusion in our lives. Either way, we both understand the process of making our voices heard even though one was rallying for protected group rights, while the other rallied for protected individual rights. I happen to believe both rallies and their participants have more in common than they may think, but this post is about specific participants I encountered at the Capitol that day, not about any social issues at hand.
Once inside I took my seat in the gallery. My friends and I sat with some young students who were visiting from an inner city Minneapolis school. Being a teacher I asked the rhetorical question, “Is there school today?” They were from the age group that I taught. In fact, they seemed like familiar faces to me. They all wore alternative clothing. They had piercings, odd (or some would say hip) hairstyles. They wore rainbow belts, hats, shirts and stickers. I had taught and nurtured similar students in my own classroom and respected them as individuals, often protecting them from outside threats; today was no different.
It was obvious by their purposeful dress, and the directives coming from the adult supervisor, that they were there for the GLBT lobby day. Given I take our own kids to some rallies I have little issue with our youth participating in activism, but my concerns today were around the lack of understanding these kids had of what was happening at the Capitol, the role of our government and the legislative process. Moreover, the students were taken out of school during the week, even bused to the Capitol in what seemed to be taxpayer funded buses. This so called “field trip” bothered me as an educator, taxpayer and parent.
The kids themselves were very polite. I appreciated their individuality, but sadly they had no clue as to what was going on. This was not to say that they weren’t alert or smart, in fact between playing with their electronic devices and engaging in casual student chatter, they asked several questions of me. In their multitasking they were listening to me and my companions. We were discussing the bill being debated on the House floor: The Early Childhood Bill. The situation was quite ironic. I explained to them the details of the bill as argued by the author and then educated them on the proposed amendments by the minority. We also helped them track the roll call and voting. So, as Democrat legislators discussed how we needed to start our children’s public education earlier in order to close achievement gaps, improve child care quality and ready kids for better learning, I sat next to kids who were yanked from their public schools to participate in activism without actually being taught about government or meaningful civic duty; so much for trusting the school system with preparing our kids for higher achievement. This is why our public schools (not always fairly) and the Democrats get accused of immorally institutionalizing or indoctrinating our children; some use children for their own political purposes.
Before I could chat with the supervisor, another man ran up to the students, “It’s your time! Stand up and let them see you!” They lazily stood up while I watched the legislators lift their heads to the gallery and begin their generic clapping. Some of those legislators are teachers themselves and should have been disgusted with how these kids were being used as props to push GLBT related bills. Again, it’s not the fact that the GLBT were lobbying. I happen to belief in domestic rights for gay partners. I happen to believe that being homosexual isn’t a choice; although some exploit the gay community in order to be in vogue. No, I was disgusted by the fact that these kids weren’t educated on how to promote a “good” bill or law based on the merit of its detailed language.
When my kids join me in activism, they are given a lesson. They are taught the process and given both sides of the issue. I let them know they have choices and those choices have consequences. They are given perspective and context. I don’t use them for a head count. I don’t take them out of school or use anyone else’s resources to engage them in my own personal activism. It is a learning experience and a personal duty they are taught. The students I met at the Capitol deserve that education too, or else they will feel just as misunderstood and empty as they did prior to the experience, and their future activism will be misguided, misunderstood and less effective.
The legislators and activists that day led with good intentions, but fell short on meaningful, long term legal and educational progress. And in the wake of their shortsighted self indulging practice, these kids who they supposedly fought for were lost in the process.
It saddens me that these students are bing used. We are seeing this more and more in our education system which has become so one sided and is a great disservice to our children.