Why Teaching These ‘‘Controversial’’ Subjects in Depth at Public School is Essential not Elective

Subjects today that are labelled controversial have been chewed up and spit right out of the social media machine through political rhetoric and social commentary; these sensitive topics have been handed to influencers and politicians pushing a bias and seeking power and fame.

The lack of sensible discourse has undermined these important subjects completely and increasingly breed more narrow-mindedness and division throughout our society.

Public schools have a responsibility to instill the moral foundations of a global community, one that can cooperate with anyone willing to play their role in society to support one another’s means of living and survival. To go against those that threaten peace over relatively insignificant views, ironically making them more dangerous than the so-called ‘threats’ they worry about due to fear-mongering on the internet.

Sex Education

Since 2014, each year has seen a significant rise in STD cases, with the last report coming in 2019 from the CDC, that highlights a record-breaking 2.6 million STD cases. So, more people are practicing unsafe sex. The way to combat the issue is by giving more students access to sex education early on before they are introduced to glamourized sex in the media, which prioritizes pleasure over health and safety. Sex education requires greater resources and increased teaching content and studying input to make students treat the subject with better attention, seriousness, and effort to learn the field successfully.

LGBTQ History

Many students' experience with the subject of LGBTQ is either from the media, coming debates over LGBTQ rights, or from their religious institutions, many of which shame and disregard the LGBTQ. It’s important for students to understand LGBTQ individuals better, learn about their similarities, find common ground based on interests and moral compasses, and understand the issues they face as a marginalized group.

Black History

The importance of Black history is to learn about the turmoil Black people have faced since the US was born, how the fight against oppression has improved the lives of Black people compared to their ancestors who were forced to be slaves. Also, how a history of oppression has negatively impacted Black people today. Learning about the history allows us all to see a dark side of human history and why it shouldn’t be repeated.

History of Other Ethnic Minorities

Discrimination against other ethnicities is a consequence of close-mindedness to different cultures and religions. Once again, people become equated with stereotypes revolving around minorities, especially in the form of memes in the modern-day, and without educating individuals about these subjects early on, they will develop a warped worldview defined by strangers on the internet.

By Shaan Khan

Shaan Khan is the Author of ‘Red Scales’, a mystery thriller novel available on Amazon.com, and a Freelance Content Writer that creates blog articles on almost anything—including Entertainment, Technology, Socioeconomics and Gaming!

Blog: http://bareullah.com

Book: https://www.amazon.com/Red-Scales-Shaan-Khan/dp/1527284905