My Vote is for Informed Voters

As I went to vote today, I reflected upon the first time I voted and how my social studies teacher inspired me to vote. I haven't missed voting in a single (aside from party primaries, since I distrust both parties), since I turned 18. That teacher impacted my life. He mixed current events into historical lessons and told us that voting was a responsibility, not mere a right.

But as I thought about Mr. Norcross, I can't remember a single time that he tried to influence our political biases. I think that if he had, I'd have discounted his efforts to get us to vote. I think great teachers need to teach their students to think about issues, not how to think think about them.

In contrast, there was another teacher at my high school who had an agenda. He wanted people to think exactly the same way he did. And I've had many teachers since then, who were political advocates for one party or another--some went so far as to show favoritism to papers that agreed with their own political biases. I don't want this to be me--and I think there is little danger of it--since my bias lies in the middle.

At my Practicum, I've heard some students say outlandish things, politically, but I didn't correct them. I honestly didn't know if I should. One boy said, "Bush hates all blacks." While I'm not a Bush fan, neither do I think he is a racist. I wanted to say, "If what you say is true, why did he choose Condi Rice or Colin Powell when he was first elected?" But I said nothing. I doubted it would be appropriate.

Since then, however, I think I have decided that I want a classroom like my high school teacher's classroom. I want discussions about issues, and I want the participants to take sides, but I don't want my students to be swayed by my political leanings. I want other students to have the mental acumen to test the political biases of their peers. Why do you feel this way? Why do you say that? I think political matters are often about passions and are often reflex actions. If I can teach my students to be politically aware, but not aware of my political leanings, I think I'll have fostered an atmosphere conducive to producing informed voters--and when that happens--maybe America will get better candidates than we have been getting. Politicians will have to be smart to get smart people to vote for them.