Amidst the constant flow of fake news and the biased reporting spread across all forms of media, how is anyone expected to reliably learn what’s happening in the world and why?
Following the recent outbreak of the US-Israel war against Iran, social studies teachers hinted in their classes that they might create an opportunity for students to learn more. Just a couple of days later, on March 5, the department held information sessions during lunch that were open to the entire Heschel High School. The sessions began by focusing on the history of US-Iranian relations dating back to 1953, led to learning about current efforts to deter Iranian progress in building nuclear weapons, and ended with questions from attendees.
I walked into the session expecting to find a small cohort of like-minded peers who wanted to learn more. I was delighted to find that there were a variety of eager people, including teachers and other faculty across all departments and students across various grades. Attendees held varying opinions on the conflict, and what I most appreciated is that we all had differing amounts of prior knowledge. It was an authentic period of dialogue; we asked questions and learned to get a better grasp on the events around us.
There is so much misinformation on social media that makes simple learning an unreasonably difficult task; students must spend unfeasible amounts of time fact-checking and maintaining a steadfast radar for bias. Sometimes, skewed news seeps into consciousness so subtly via social media posts that it’s hard to detect in the first place and even harder to ignore.
Well-rounded recaps about current events should be routine additions to our schedule. Whether weekly, monthly, or on a case-by-case basis, these sessions provide valuable knowledge in a convenient manner, fostering a more well-informed student body with the ability to think critically. Making sessions optional and ungraded ensures that attendees are genuinely interested and are learning for the sake of learning.
Thank you to the entire history department for providing this meaningful and important opportunity!
