The angry and sometimes violent speech expressed by parents at school board meetings in recent years has found a mirror, as students at high schools throughout California increasingly are willing to criticize each other about politics views, race and sexuality.
Though researchers offered several possible causes – including the tone of political advertising in hotly contested congressional districts – they said the rise of angry talk on campus has come during a time when parents increasingly are willing to yell at school board members, teachers and others when they attend school board meetings.
“It may be that the intolerance was there before, and unspoken. We don’t know. But the social norms were such that they would otherwise have not shared those views.” • Roughly 7 in 10 school principals in California said demeaning or hateful remarks among students increased in 2022 from the previous year.
“It’s important to be clear: Any parent has a right to express concerns. In fact, what we need is for more people to express their opinions,” Kahne said.The study of California schools follows a. Nationally, Rogers and Kahne found culture war rhetoric was sparking more conflict on campus, and that the conflict was most pronounced in communities where politics are closely divided – similar to the results in California.
Instead, Kahne worried about a potential “chilling effect,” in which teachers might self-regulate and change their curriculum to match what the loudest critics want.