tippi

^ screenshot above

i feel like this warrants its own post so i'm replying to it separately from the comment. it's irresponsible to give nazis an uncritical platform and we need to punch fascists etc etc but it's actually massively important to teach about these beliefs to students. students need to be taught how to recognize and critique fascist talking points and propaganda to inform their own understanding of politics and the best way to do that is through guided instruction. otherwise when students ARE eventually exposed to nazi ideology they will be predisposed to accept it uncritically. put massive fucking disclaimers in front of any books that promote nazi talking points but don't bar access to them entirely, they're important artifacts for deconstructing fascist ideology and studying our enemies

yes i'm aware that "censorship is bad and the people who advocate for and enforce it are bad actors" is not exactly a hot take but as a trained professional educator i will say that the way people will try to frame censorship as "protecting" children is so bullshit when so much of what we know about building safety for children is related to giving them access to information

people (i'm mostly talking about liberals here) have been arguing in favor of optical politics since time immemorial and it might just be the most annoyingly oppressive framework they have to be honest. the idea that "bad optics" are a bigger threat to a movement or marginalized identity group than the actual systems oppressing them is really more of a valuing of those systems over valuing those movements/groups. it's inherently about denying change and justice in the world and the entire concept needs to be dismantled. anyone whose political philosophy is secured by "professional appearances" truly has no idea what they're talking about whatsoever

been thinking about systems that replicate prisons a lot lately and i'm wondering to what extent traditional american schools emulate carceral ideology. the school to prison pipeline is absolutely real and i see it distinctly when i'm collaborating with other teachers at my elementary school. i notice a lot of the ways they act towards students are ways doctors acted towards me when i was in a psychiatric ward, they're condescending and controlling and irreceptive to feedback when the students advocate for themselves (all factors heavily associated with prison environments). approaching any child as a "problem" is not going to do anything but dysregulate them and cause them to lash out at you because they do not feel safe. it is always always always always ALWAYS about safety. if a child comes up to you and says something you think is rude it is because of either the environment they live in or the environment you are creating for them and neither reason should be strictly punished, they should be treated with curiosity about how you can make the environment more fair to them. listening to the children and treating them equitably is the ONLY successful way you can create an environment that fully facilitates their growth and learning