Rocio Chavez
Soc. 111
2 May 2017
Uncivil Discourse
Many of us are aware of our right to free speech and are activist for it when it comes to something we are passionate about. I believe that in several of these cases, people use their freedom to represent and empower positive movements in society. But at the same time, there are few people who use this freedom to cause harm to others. Uncivil discourse is like a double edge sword, it alleviates stress and anger for some by arguing their side on a topic but can cause devastating results for the other side.
There is not a direct way to solve uncivil discourse in society without hindering a person's freedom of speech. It seems like the correct way to "deal" with an act of uncivil discourse should be through the legal system and jail time. If one were to have to censor their actual thoughts and concerns then there would not be progress made. Half of the battle is telling others our concerns in hopes to spark change whether it be positive or negative.
An article that highlighted the effects and problems due to uncivil discourse was posted in the PBS News Hour today was "Teachers not shying away from divisive political discussion…" The article focused on Kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers and how there has been high amounts of uncivil discourse in school since the Presidential Election of 2016. In the article, many teachers stated feeling an uneasy atmosphere change between their students. There were more reported cases of bullying and students with undocumented family members were afraid for their safety. In addition, many teachers reported avoiding controversial issue in order to maintain the classroom neutrality while others chose to embrace the chaos and have it serve as a lesson too. After reading this, I was astonished that uncivil discourse can even impact the lives of innocent children and cause them anxiety. The topic of uncivil discourse is unpredictable
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