Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Once upon a very absurd time, which happens to be now, a school district in Pennsylvania decided that the mere potential for activism and a ‘lifestyle’ that strays from the mundane was a threat to impressionable minds. They canceled an actor’s scheduled speech, not because of what he might say, but because of what he represents. Ah, the smell of preemptive censorship in the morning, it las laissez-faire as a bull in a china shop.
The Breakdown
- Paranoid Pacification Policies: The school district officials somehow believe that they have transcended to a level of omniscience where they can predict the cataclysmic consequences of an actor speaking on a stage. Future-tellers or fear-mongers? I’ll let you call that flip.
- Details: Apparently, this actor’s mere presence would be akin to opening Pandora’s box but instead of plagues, it’d be full of critical thinking and perhaps empathy. Far scarier than plagues, obviously!
- Details: Apparently, this actor’s mere presence would be akin to opening Pandora’s box but instead of plagues, it’d be full of critical thinking and perhaps empathy. Far scarier than plagues, obviously!
- Activism Allergies: The fear of activism is so palpable in the school district’s decision, you’d think advocacy was a new form of the bubonic plague.
- Specifics: The district has confused ‘activism’ with ‘armageddon’. I suppose we should avoid anything that encourages standing up for beliefs, like history or literature?
- Specifics: The district has confused ‘activism’ with ‘armageddon’. I suppose we should avoid anything that encourages standing up for beliefs, like history or literature?
- Lifestyle Lockdown: The actor’s ‘lifestyle’, an elusive term that’s thrown around like a hot potato nobody wants, has been the nail on the coffin for this speaking engagement.
- Deep Dive: The district didn’t specify what about the ‘lifestyle’ was so irksome, leaving us to wonder if they were worried he’d promote something truly radical, like recycling or respect.
- Deep Dive: The district didn’t specify what about the ‘lifestyle’ was so irksome, leaving us to wonder if they were worried he’d promote something truly radical, like recycling or respect.
- Suppression Soup Du Jour: In an attempt to keep the menu of ‘appropriate’ school topics bland, the district opts for suppression soup.
- Ingredients: One part fear, two parts control, seasoned with a dash of close-mindedness. Best served cold, like the decision to cancel a thought-provoking talk.
- Ingredients: One part fear, two parts control, seasoned with a dash of close-mindedness. Best served cold, like the decision to cancel a thought-provoking talk.
- Educational Echo Chambers: The decision ensures students get a well-rounded education—with the edges so rounded off, we’re left with an echo chamber.
- Echo Qualities: The acoustics of an echo chamber encourage only one voice, one perspective, and one very myopic view of the world. Variety, it seems, is not the spice of the school district’s life.
- Echo Qualities: The acoustics of an echo chamber encourage only one voice, one perspective, and one very myopic view of the world. Variety, it seems, is not the spice of the school district’s life.
The Counter
- Ostrich Approach: Maybe if we bury our heads in the sand and only allow speeches on universally unobjectionable topics like the joys of watching paint dry, we’ll foster a generation of well-adjusted robots.
- Controversy Quarantine: By isolating students from controversy, we protect the purity of their ignorance, insulating them from the dangers of, dare I say it, diverse opinions.
- Cheerleading for Conformity: Let’s give three cheers for sameness! With enough spirit, we can forget all about that pesky individualism.
- Inoculating Against Insight: It’s imperative that we vaccinate our youth against the infectious disease of insightfulness. It might lead to independent thought and we can’t have that.
- Bubble Wrap Brainpower: The more we cushion and cocoon our children from the harsh realities and various perspectives of the world, the softer their intellectual fortitude. They’ll thank us later – provided they can think for themselves by then.
The Hot Take
What we need is more bubble-bursting moments! If only there was a class, a seminar, perhaps—wait for it—a speech, that could prompt students to explore ideas beyond their own backyard. Hey, how about we just let people speak? If an idea is that terrible, isn’t it better to tackle it head-on rather than pretend it doesn’t exist?
Instead of dunking the desire to challenge ideas in a vat of ice-cold censorship, we prescribe a hot dose of discourse—spiced with facts, empathy, and a splash of humor. Let’s prepare students to be participants in a free-thinking democracy, not defenders of a cardboard fortress.
Source: Pennsylvania school district cancel’s actor’s speech over concerns of activism, ‘lifestyle’
