We Should Never Hide the Truth in Our Schools

by Ernie McCray

Today there’s a move,
spearheaded
by a dictator-like-president,
to hide truths
in our schools,
an idea beyond ridiculous
since truths
are basic
to learning,
something made clear to me
when I began teaching sixth grade
in the 60’s,
at a school
where many of the students
lived in naval housing,
their dads off fighting in Vietnam,
leaving them to wonder what was really going on,
what was real,
and we engaged in deep conversations
to ease our anxieties
about the reality of war in our lives
through writing prose and poetry
and making reel to reel tapes
of our writings
to be mailed to their fathers,
against a backdrop of other events going on in our society
which we also delved into:
the struggle for Civil Rights,
the striking down of our heroes.

Our classroom was abuzz
with critical thinking
at the core
of our learning environment.
It would have been a sin
for me to keep truths hidden from them.

And if I were in a classroom today
with truth on the line,
I would be champing at the bit
to give my students opportunities
to understand
the state of our democracy
during these worrisome times,
and I would ask them
what they know about what our president
is all about,
what he’s doing,
and how they feel about it
and I’d have them take part in
reviewing characteristics of democracies
and autocracies
and engage them in thought-provoking activities
that get deep into
how each system
impacts the lives of citizens
which would require a bit of research,
and we’d involve ourselves in journaling,
and creating sketches and dances to put on our school’s stage
along with writing songs and prose and poetry
about how we feel
and how we, with others of like-minds,
might change the situation we’re mired in
so that we can survive
and continue bettering our country
down the line.

We owe it to our children
to never think,
no matter what the president desires,
of watering

their learning experiences down
to some kind of fairy tale vision
of the American story
that focuses only on the good,
bypassing the bad and the ugly.

They need exposure to all the narratives
if they’re to be adequately prepared
to take their place in the real world
as learned citizens.