There’s a local story I read about in the paper yesterday that’s just been bugging me. Some of the high schools around here offer a Peace Studies program. Two students at B-CC High School (that’s Bethesda-Chevy Chase, a.k.a. privileged rich kid central) who aren’t even taking the class, have decided that it should be discontinued because it only offers one point of view. The teacher has the nerve to make his views against war, violence and animal testing clear. In his Peace Studies class. How surprising. What should they cover in Peace Studies? How war is good? Why we should all be more intolerant of each other? How to achieve change through the domination and oppression of others? The teacher says he encourages open debate and opposing view points, and my guess is that he does. Of course, these kids wouldn’t know that since they haven’t even taken the class.
I worked for a very conservative magazine for five long years before I took my current job. Many of the people I knew there were really nice, well educated, and quite intelligent (with a couple of extremely mean-spirited exceptions). They all had this same weird blind spot though. They prided themselves on being contrarians, but when presented with an opposing or alternate view, they just wanted to shut it down. They would be in total agreement with these kids, I’m sure. The whole idea of peace studies is something they would have ridiculed. I don’t understand that. How could someone possibly object to the notion of learning about peace? How could they think that wishing for a world where we don’t have to resort to violence to solve our problems and trying to make that a reality is somehow laughable? Why is it crazy to be concerned about the suffering of animals and our fellow humans? If I were suffering, I would want someone to care about what was happening to me.
I can only conclude that these kids – and my former co-workers – find those sorts of ideas threatening for some reason. Perhaps because somewhere deep down inside, notions like that make them question what they’ve always believed, and that makes them uncomfortable? Because otherwise, I don’t see how anyone, anywhere could have a problem with kids learning about peace before they head out into the cold hard world.
Or that their parents see these ideas as threatening and they've learned this crap at home. It's called Peace Studies. Not like there's a great mystery to what it's about.
I always wonder - usually aloud - why people say 'I'm all about hearing other points of view' but then vehemently dismiss any mention of an idea that isn't in line with theirs. Reminds me of an interesting conversation I had with a local pastor...Anyway...
I think you hit the nail - it makes them uncomfortable and if it makes them uncomfortable it must be wrong and if it is wrong it must be stopped - right now. There is a method to the madness, but it is still madness.