Have you noticed how inconsistent people's beliefs are? Maybe it is the result of people living pragmatically rather than out of religious conviction. Perhaps it happened when we started treating political power as the ultimate end, so whatever means it took to get there became acceptable. Maybe we just don't think enough about whether our opinions are consistent with our other opinions (most people don't reflect as much as they should). I don't know if it was like this before since I didn't live before, but it bugs me. Here are a few examples I have noticed in the past few years.
Botox v. Vaccine - During the pandemic, all the armchair epidemiologists came out of the woodwork. People looked at graphs they were not qualified to interpret and called it "doing their own research." They insisted that people who followed recommendations were ignorant while they were informed. When the vaccine came out, they insisted that it was putting "poison" in their bodies. Meanwhile, many of those same people had been injecting actual poison in the form of botulinum toxin into their facial muscles for years. Botox for the sake of vanity was fine; vaccines for the sake of protecting immunocompromised people were not. They'll try to tell you these situations are different; but, in reality, it is just inconsistent thinking.
Pro-Life, Baby on Board v. Death Penalty - I've been pro-life for as long as I can remember, but I have to confess I was always weirded out by "Baby on Board" signs in cars when they were ubiquitous in the 80s and 90s. I always wondered if there was an age at which I could drive recklessly without the worry of endangering the 14-year-old on board or the middle-aged adult in the car. The new version of this is a yard sign that says, "Drive like your children live here." I don't have children, so I guess it is fine if I just plow through the neighborhood at 90mph. What really confuses me, though, is that the same people who protest abortion and caution you about driving are the quickest to advocate the execution of criminals or "turning Aghganistan into a parking lot." Again, I don't know what age you have to be before the "human life is sacred" people (of which I am one) start thinking it is okay for the government to take lives. I'm conflicted about the death penalty because of people like Timothy McVeigh, but I'm about an inch away from believing it should be abolished completely. It should, at the very least, be used as little as possible. But I don't understand the inconsistency of pro-life people celebrating the destruction of a human who bears the Imago Dei.
Gender Isn't Real v. Gender Reveal - If there is anything more annoying than gender reveals, I don't know what it is. For no reason other than social media posts, we decided we couldn't just answer the question, "Do you know what you're having?" anymore. Instead, we had to come up with a dramatic way to announce it to hundreds of people at once. Yet, we live in a time when some are trying to convince us that gender doesn't exist. Even weirder, these are often the same people. People who believe gender is literally not a thing will still make their first question, "So, is it a boy or a girl?" I always wonder if any parent says, "I don't know. I guess we'll find out in a few years." These are weirdly inconsistent positions.
Eliminating Grades v. What's In It For Me? If you aren't in education, you may not know how many weirdos on Twitter want to eliminate grades. I'm sure they mean well; they want students to learn for the sake of learning without extrinsic motivation being necessary. Yet, they teach students who regularly compete for prizes. These same teachers tweet a lot about their own pay, so apparently they need some extrinsic motivation in their lives. The other day, I saw an ad for an app called Healthy Wager. Apparently, weight loss, feeling better, and living longer are not enough internal motivations to eat well and exercise, so this app incentivizes users with money. We can have a real discussion about the over-emphasis on grades, but if you are going to talk about eliminating them completely, I'm going to ask you to be honest about your own motivations.
Teachers Have an Agenda v. Arming them - At the beginning of the pandemic, there was a lot of love for teachers. Parents were having to deal with their kids during the day for the first time since they were toddlers, and they didn't like it. When they imagined multiplying it by 30, they decided teachers were saints. It didn't last long, though, and the whiplash was strong. As teachers and students returned to school buildings, it became popular to accuse us of having an agenda. Teachers have been accused of everything from teaching white supremacy through math to recruiting kids to be trans. Laws have been passed to prevent teachers from having normal conversations with students, choosing books, and deciding our own grading policies. Parents' organizations have demanded to see lesson plans in July (not curriculum mind you - lesson plans). We are no longer the angels we were in the spring of 2020; we are untrustworthy agents of the state. But pay attention next time there is a mass shooting in a school. The same people who don't trust me to do the job for which I am trained, certified, and experienced will immediately advocate that I be armed, something for which I am not remotely prepared or inclined to do.
This blog is supposed to be about education, so here's the connection. Cognitive dissonance causes anxiety. We talk a lot about student anxiety, but this fact is never addressed. Helping them resolve their thoughts can only be good for them. When students say things that reveal inconsistent thoughts, call them on it. When they say that everyone should accept themselves just the way they are while also talking about New Year's resolutions, ask them whether they think that is consistent. When they insist on fairness for themselves and not others, ask them what fairness looks like and guide them to recognize fairness isn't fair if it doesn't include the people they don't like. Model consistent thinking in front of them, and own it when you have been inconsistent. They won't recognize it for themselves. They need us to guide them.
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