Write About An Issue...But Not One That Offends Me

Alright, this is a very juicy article I found in the New York Post. A Michigan high school teacher assigned a paper to students about an issue in their lives that personally affected them. Many of the students used the "Take a Stand Speech" assignment to talk about political and social issues that they have dealt with such as race inequality, poverty, and disability. One student decided to write her paper about something that is normal in her household. For all her life, she has been raised by two gay mothers, so her essay was about the 2015 same-sex marriage that brought her family closer. However, this student's teacher denied her paper and said that she couldn't write about this topic because it may "offend other students". The teacher also denied the student's request to ask classmates whether this topic would offend them.

Ok, now this is just one of those articles that newspapers like the New York Post share to create gossip from small problems in small areas. The issue of homosexuality and same-sex marriage has been a large political topic and heated debate. However, this specific situation is not just about who is in a relationship with who: this is a breach of their first-amendment right. This teacher is preventing this student from writing a paper about her two moms because she thinks others will be offended??? It's not like this is a Christian private school; it's an old-fashioned normal high school. Telling someone that they can't say or do something because you're afraid that others may be offended is just the same as saying that you're offended. Apparently, the teacher also denied someone's paper about animal cruelty, so I am very curious to know what topics were accepted. It's just ironic that this teacher would tell his or her class to write a speech about an issue dear to their hearts and then would tell a couple students that they can't write about a topic dear to their hearts. If you're going to assign an essay like this, you have to know that there are going to be many controversial issues addressed. It's okay to have students discuss about these topics and this could have been a great opportunity for the teacher to host classroom discussions about the topics and promote a free-speech environment. But no, because someone may be offended. I'm pretty sure that this teacher just assumed someone probably would be offended by same-sex marriage. If that was true, then the teacher would have denied everyone's topics because at least someone has to be offended by each issue. But no, other topics got the green light, which means that the teacher their-self was offended.

https://nypost.com/2020/02/24/michigan-teacher-refuses-to-let-teen-write-about-her-gay-moms-for-assignment/