Where Were Their Teachers?

I grew up in the '80s.  Adults in my life, whether it was my parents or my teachers or adults in my church, held certain expectations for my behavior and for my attitude toward them.  My parents did not require that my brother and I call them sir or ma'am, but they certainly did not accept backtalk from us either.  Some of my teachers did require us to address them as ma'am and sir while others did not.  We were expected to know the difference between those teachers and conform to those expectations.  If I had gotten in trouble at school for disrespect, my parents not only would not have come to the school to defend my actions, I would have been in trouble at home as well.  I'm not saying this was happening in every household without exception, but it was the norm.

Fast forward to 2019.  A group of Catholic school boys is in Washington DC on a school trip.  They are there to participate in the March for Life, the annual rally of pro-life people who want to bring a voice to the millions of unborn children being killed in medical clinics.  This is, in my opinion, a laudable activity for their school to invest in that aligns with their worldview.  Good for their school for bringing them to an activity like this.  There's a lot for them to learn in being part of a legal protest that aligns with their faith.  If only that is where this story ended.  Sadly, it is not.

See this article for a pretty good analysis of all the different videos.

There is rarely only one event happening in Washington DC at any given time.  There are often multiple protests from various groups, and January 18 was no exception.  In addition to the March for Life, there was also the Indigenous Peoples' March.  This is a rally for Native American groups to bring attention to the issues that affect them.  The fact that these two rallies overlap on the same day should be an example of American pluralism in action, right?  Two groups were there peaceably assemble to petition their government about issues for which they are passionate.  Both should have been able to complete their marches without incident, especially since they are not conflicting issues (after all, it wasn't like a NARAL march was scheduled to overlap with the March for Life).  If only that is where the story ended.  Sadly, it is not.

Because both marches overlapped near the Lincoln Memorial, the Indigenous Peoples' march began to attract attention from the March for Life.  There was also a group of Black Hebrew Israelites present, although it is unclear to me whether they were part of an official march or just there.  The boys from Covington Catholic were bothered by the statements of these people, which were, in fairness, designed to be offensive.  I mean, I would definitely be offended if I heard someone say "you worship blasphemy" at a rally.  I would be offended enough to turn my back and walk away.  It would not occur to me to start shouting my school's initials, pep rally style, in order to drown the statements out. 

Perhaps my understanding of free speech is flawed, but I was not taught that he who chants the loudest wins.  I was definitely taught to speak and to work for what I believed (and worked for NC Right to Life for a number of years).  I was not taught that it was okay for me to drown out the speech of others. 

A particularly outspoken facebook friend of mine insists that the Native American man was harassing the students and that if I watched the full video, my perspective would change.  I watched it.  I see him stepping over to the area in which they were chanting, but I do not see that he is harassing them.  In an interview, he states that was trying to step between the students and the Black Hebrew Israelites because he thought he could diffuse the situation.  Even with video, the truth usually lies somewhere between two perspectives, but I definitely do not see him do anything that would cause them to circle him and start chanting at him. 

She asked me what crime they committed.  When did the standard of behavior we expect from our students stop at what is legal?  Did they have to commit a crime to be considered jerks?  No, they did nothing that would get them arrested, but they did do things that would have gotten me suspended from my private school.  Whether in behavior (chanting and jumping around) or in attitude (the boy who just smirks throughout the entire encounter), expectations would have been higher.

This brings me to the real question.  Where were their teachers? 

They were on a school trip.  I've been on school trips.  I've chaperoned school trips.  There is no way that I, as a teacher, would stand around watching this happen.  Whether you believe the kids were being jerks (or like my friend, believe they were being harassed), the lack of involvement of adults is most disturbing.  Shouldn't we be seeing them talking to their students about what is happening? Shouldn't we be seeing them modeling appropriate protest behavior for the students?  Shouldn't we be seeing their teachers step in to pull them away from this situation?  Shouldn't we be seeing them? 

We are teachers.  When we are with our students, whether on trips or in our classrooms, it is not our job to observe as bad things happen.  It is our job to teach.  Whether that is telling them that they are wrong or pulling them away from a situation where there could be danger, we should not be invisible.

I'm glad that the Catholic Diocese has issued an apology.  I'm glad they are investigating the behavior of their students.  I implore them, as a teacher, to investigate the apparent inaction of their teachers.