I was disheartened to read that Juneau students were not allowed back to class after their brief tribute to the 17 murdered Florida students. I applaud them for their heartfelt expression, and am disappointed that the school interpreted its policy so inflexibly.
At times of tragedy, counselors have assisted our students in finding healthy ways of coping with overwhelming feelings. They encourage giving voice to feelings in a safe way. It seems to me these students were engaged in exactly the type of activity a counselor might have encouraged.
We try to instill in our students an engagement with current events, a sense of civic duty and responsibility. These students appeared to be acting in concert with these teachings.
Yes, policies should be applied uniformly and fairly, but a more nuanced approach easily could have made the students’ actions “policy compliant.” Could a teacher or the principal have accompanied the students? Could they have been asked to write or speak about the experience before and/or after as a part of a lesson in writing, speech, government, civics, healthy lifestyles, etc.? It wouldn’t have taken long to find a number of solutions.
The school failed to engage in the kinds of critical thinking and solution-seeking processes that we try to teach our students and that we desperately need in our society. It missed the “teachable moment.”
Jan Gregg Levy,
Juneau