"THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM"
“What do you expect?”
This was his friend’s response when sophomore Alec Liberman mentioned the backlash he receives for his conservative political views.
“I’m a fan of some of the Republican candidates. People just started calling me a racist and a homophobe and a bigot, even though that’s not true,” he said. “The second they ... linked me to the Republican Party, I was automatically each of those things.”
Every student and teacher interviewed agreed that Newton is known as a generally liberal city. Some, however, said the number of conservatives is underestimated, and that the perception of a homogeneous political culture can result in a school environment that is single-minded or even repressive.
“The stereotype for Newton is that [it is] a progressive bastion,” senior Samuel Fishman said. “I really don’t feel that way. I think this is a leftist community, a liberal community, but it’s not a progressive community.”
“You can make Republican jokes in this school with impunity,” history and psychology teacher Paul Estin said. “We can’t [make] ethnic jokes, we can’t [make] gender-based jokes, we can’t [make] sexual-based jokes, but boy, we can slam Republicans all we want, and that’s perfectly okay.”
According to Estin, this mindset has clear consequences. “The few kids who ... label themselves as Republican or conservative ... either get really, really good at defending their position because they have to, or they kind of wind up fitting the stereotype — because, what the heck, people are going to believe that anyways,” he said. “They’re not challenged to make their position more nuanced.”
Many students said that, at South, this issue is most relevant in the classroom. Senior Nina Berezin, who tends to side with conservatives, acknowledged that class discussions can be challenging.
“In classes where I don’t what side people are on, it definitely makes me a lot more hesitant,” she said.
Junior Salome Tkebuchava, also a conservative, agreed. “Sometimes I feel uncomfortable because I don’t want to be the one that raises my hand and says, ... ‘No, actually I don’t agree with that,’” she said. Even so, she feels it is important to share her views.
Political identities can be especially relevant in AP U.S. Government, a senior history elective which includes a unit on political parties.
Senior Kim Gravlin, who takes the course, said teacher Deborah Linder attempts to find a balance between her political views and her students’ by clarifying that “[just] because she’s liberal doesn’t mean she’s necessarily right.”
Estin said he uses similar caveats in his class. “There are occasional times when I think that there’s a point to be made that relates to whatever the material is, and I’ll usually follow up by saying, ‘That’s just my opinion, you can think differently,’” he said.
For Berezin, however, these disclaimers are not always enough. “I think that since teachers are mostly Democratic, ... it makes kids a lot more resistant to saying their true beliefs. For example, on an essay one time I had to go totally Democratic because I ... didn’t want my opinion to affect my grade in any way,” she said
But creating an open and unbiased learning environment can be challenging. “[Teachers] are human,” Estin said, and have their own political views. “I don’t know how good they’re going to be at defending the thing that they really disagree with.”
Linder agreed that being completely objective can be nearly impossible.“I don’t ever plan a class and think, ‘I’m going to be a liberal today.’ That’s not the goal,” she said. “[However,] there may be times where I move to the left unavoidably.”
Regardless, she still aims to be inclusive. “I really hope that in my class [students with different political views] feel like that’s okay, and they realize that I respect them as people,” she said. “It’s not my job to move someone one way or another; it’s the job of the students that talk to each other and challenge each other.”
Exposure to as many ideas as possible is critical. “The hope is just that there’s enough different views and different classes that any one student will take, that they’ll be able to not only get skills and analysis, but also maybe get questioned in different ways and [in] different directions by different people,” Estin said.
Berezin agreed and said that communities of people with generally similar views do not offer space for growth. “Sometimes, [people are] way too into their own beliefs that they just can’t even look at the other side in a rational way.” she said.
Estin used to be the advisor for South’s Conservative Students Organization, which discussed economic and political issues, though never issues concerning social conservatism. “It was kind of fun because there was also a liberal students union,” he said. “We had some really good debates when the two groups got together.”
The club eventually died out, but not before it encountered resentment. “When the club had been around for roughly a year, ... we said, ‘Let’s try to recruit more people.’ We put out some posters with some blue tape all over the place one afternoon, but by the next morning they had all been ripped down.” Estin said. “It was kind of discouraging. We didn’t feel really motivated to try again after that.”
According to senior Giulio Cataldo, many believe that people who do not share their political ideals are “misinformed.”
Senior Sam Kopp said he has faced this prejudice firsthand. “I’ve been called racist, stupid, unintelligent — just a whole slew of hateful remarks from people who don’t agree with me,” he said. “I more or less just let the remarks go because they’re not [from] anyone significant to me.”
Gravlin said that it is important to steer away from these notions, even when disagreeing with others’ views. “In terms of political beliefs, there is no such thing as one right answer,” she said. Freshman Savannah Macero agreed. “I don’t think you should let people try to tell you that you’re wrong because you can’t really be wrong — it’s what you believe in,” she said.
Cataldo said that students should remain open-minded, especially in the context of the upcoming presidential elections.
“I think that there is a stigma [that being] anything but a Bernie supporter at Newton South is wrong,” Cataldo said “If you support Hillary you’re okay, but if you’re not a big fan of either, then people just don’t like you in terms of politics.”
Opposing parties go to extreme measures to prove that their beliefs alone are valid, Estin said. “It’s ... two tribes basically saying, ‘This is my tribe; therefore, it’s right,’” he said. “I think you can see that in the current election, where I think that the standards that people have for their party candidates versus the other party candidates are very different.”
This uncompromising mindset, Linder said, disrupts national conversations about important issues. “You look at TV and the best ratings are when people are mean to one another and rude and they don’t actually have well developed arguments,” she said.
Rich conversations can occur only if students put in the time and effort to educate themselves, she said. “Don’t talk about loving Trump if you have no idea who Trump is. Don’t say you love Hillary just because your mom does,” she said. “It’s easy to be influenced by what your friends think because you just want to fit in really easily, but it’s important to not let that affect how you think ... about politics,” Macero said.
Fishman said he believes politics to be an essential part of his role as a citizen. “It’s absolutely critical that you’re educated, and it’s absolutely critical that you’re talking about the issues,” he said.
“I think some conservatives need to step up and actually speak their minds instead of trying to play to teachers’ thoughts or their friends’ thoughts to be more accepted,” Kopp said. “Freedom of speech in learning institutions is actually one of the most important protections we have. Any school is supposed to be a healthy environment for political discourse to overcome these exact issues.”
This was his friend’s response when sophomore Alec Liberman mentioned the backlash he receives for his conservative political views.
“I’m a fan of some of the Republican candidates. People just started calling me a racist and a homophobe and a bigot, even though that’s not true,” he said. “The second they ... linked me to the Republican Party, I was automatically each of those things.”
Every student and teacher interviewed agreed that Newton is known as a generally liberal city. Some, however, said the number of conservatives is underestimated, and that the perception of a homogeneous political culture can result in a school environment that is single-minded or even repressive.
“The stereotype for Newton is that [it is] a progressive bastion,” senior Samuel Fishman said. “I really don’t feel that way. I think this is a leftist community, a liberal community, but it’s not a progressive community.”
“You can make Republican jokes in this school with impunity,” history and psychology teacher Paul Estin said. “We can’t [make] ethnic jokes, we can’t [make] gender-based jokes, we can’t [make] sexual-based jokes, but boy, we can slam Republicans all we want, and that’s perfectly okay.”
According to Estin, this mindset has clear consequences. “The few kids who ... label themselves as Republican or conservative ... either get really, really good at defending their position because they have to, or they kind of wind up fitting the stereotype — because, what the heck, people are going to believe that anyways,” he said. “They’re not challenged to make their position more nuanced.”
Many students said that, at South, this issue is most relevant in the classroom. Senior Nina Berezin, who tends to side with conservatives, acknowledged that class discussions can be challenging.
“In classes where I don’t what side people are on, it definitely makes me a lot more hesitant,” she said.
Junior Salome Tkebuchava, also a conservative, agreed. “Sometimes I feel uncomfortable because I don’t want to be the one that raises my hand and says, ... ‘No, actually I don’t agree with that,’” she said. Even so, she feels it is important to share her views.
Political identities can be especially relevant in AP U.S. Government, a senior history elective which includes a unit on political parties.
Senior Kim Gravlin, who takes the course, said teacher Deborah Linder attempts to find a balance between her political views and her students’ by clarifying that “[just] because she’s liberal doesn’t mean she’s necessarily right.”
Estin said he uses similar caveats in his class. “There are occasional times when I think that there’s a point to be made that relates to whatever the material is, and I’ll usually follow up by saying, ‘That’s just my opinion, you can think differently,’” he said.
For Berezin, however, these disclaimers are not always enough. “I think that since teachers are mostly Democratic, ... it makes kids a lot more resistant to saying their true beliefs. For example, on an essay one time I had to go totally Democratic because I ... didn’t want my opinion to affect my grade in any way,” she said
But creating an open and unbiased learning environment can be challenging. “[Teachers] are human,” Estin said, and have their own political views. “I don’t know how good they’re going to be at defending the thing that they really disagree with.”
Linder agreed that being completely objective can be nearly impossible.“I don’t ever plan a class and think, ‘I’m going to be a liberal today.’ That’s not the goal,” she said. “[However,] there may be times where I move to the left unavoidably.”
Regardless, she still aims to be inclusive. “I really hope that in my class [students with different political views] feel like that’s okay, and they realize that I respect them as people,” she said. “It’s not my job to move someone one way or another; it’s the job of the students that talk to each other and challenge each other.”
Exposure to as many ideas as possible is critical. “The hope is just that there’s enough different views and different classes that any one student will take, that they’ll be able to not only get skills and analysis, but also maybe get questioned in different ways and [in] different directions by different people,” Estin said.
Berezin agreed and said that communities of people with generally similar views do not offer space for growth. “Sometimes, [people are] way too into their own beliefs that they just can’t even look at the other side in a rational way.” she said.
Estin used to be the advisor for South’s Conservative Students Organization, which discussed economic and political issues, though never issues concerning social conservatism. “It was kind of fun because there was also a liberal students union,” he said. “We had some really good debates when the two groups got together.”
The club eventually died out, but not before it encountered resentment. “When the club had been around for roughly a year, ... we said, ‘Let’s try to recruit more people.’ We put out some posters with some blue tape all over the place one afternoon, but by the next morning they had all been ripped down.” Estin said. “It was kind of discouraging. We didn’t feel really motivated to try again after that.”
According to senior Giulio Cataldo, many believe that people who do not share their political ideals are “misinformed.”
Senior Sam Kopp said he has faced this prejudice firsthand. “I’ve been called racist, stupid, unintelligent — just a whole slew of hateful remarks from people who don’t agree with me,” he said. “I more or less just let the remarks go because they’re not [from] anyone significant to me.”
Gravlin said that it is important to steer away from these notions, even when disagreeing with others’ views. “In terms of political beliefs, there is no such thing as one right answer,” she said. Freshman Savannah Macero agreed. “I don’t think you should let people try to tell you that you’re wrong because you can’t really be wrong — it’s what you believe in,” she said.
Cataldo said that students should remain open-minded, especially in the context of the upcoming presidential elections.
“I think that there is a stigma [that being] anything but a Bernie supporter at Newton South is wrong,” Cataldo said “If you support Hillary you’re okay, but if you’re not a big fan of either, then people just don’t like you in terms of politics.”
Opposing parties go to extreme measures to prove that their beliefs alone are valid, Estin said. “It’s ... two tribes basically saying, ‘This is my tribe; therefore, it’s right,’” he said. “I think you can see that in the current election, where I think that the standards that people have for their party candidates versus the other party candidates are very different.”
This uncompromising mindset, Linder said, disrupts national conversations about important issues. “You look at TV and the best ratings are when people are mean to one another and rude and they don’t actually have well developed arguments,” she said.
Rich conversations can occur only if students put in the time and effort to educate themselves, she said. “Don’t talk about loving Trump if you have no idea who Trump is. Don’t say you love Hillary just because your mom does,” she said. “It’s easy to be influenced by what your friends think because you just want to fit in really easily, but it’s important to not let that affect how you think ... about politics,” Macero said.
Fishman said he believes politics to be an essential part of his role as a citizen. “It’s absolutely critical that you’re educated, and it’s absolutely critical that you’re talking about the issues,” he said.
“I think some conservatives need to step up and actually speak their minds instead of trying to play to teachers’ thoughts or their friends’ thoughts to be more accepted,” Kopp said. “Freedom of speech in learning institutions is actually one of the most important protections we have. Any school is supposed to be a healthy environment for political discourse to overcome these exact issues.”