Now is the time to teach civil discourse

Independent Newsmedia/Chris Williams

This is part one of a five-part series of opinions on civil discourse written by subject-matter experts in Arizona for Independent Newsmedia, Inc. USA’s Civility Learning Lab.

For more information, to read opinions on a variety of issues and to find a list of Arizona newspapers that accept opinion submissions, visit civilitylearninglab.org.

Coming Jan. 26: What is civility and why must we cultivate it? by Joan McGregor, Arizona State University

OPINION — We often speak of the sustainability of the Earth and the resources afforded to us, but what about the sustainability of democracy?

During the early years of our formation as a new country, we began to realize that expressing our views was a crucial component to living in a democratic republic. The very first amendment to our constitution enshrined the protections of free expression. Over the centuries, our uniqueness and diversity in an ever-expanding nation has only enhanced our desire for the free-flowing exchange of ideas, beliefs and values. Our schools and community and civic organizations emphasized the importance of what gradually became known as civil discourse.

The challenge, however, in recent times is that our conversations may often alienate, shut down, offend or discourage the exact exchanges that we need to enrich the lives of everyone in our society. When and why did our voices move increasingly further away from the true meaning of civil discourse?

Although there is a plethora of reasons being offered, one well-documented cause for this change in civil discourse has been the dissolution of time-tested learning and practice with the subject itself. Civil discourse began to erode with the decline of civic engagement in schools and community organizations.

In formal education, this transition started over 30 years ago. School districts across the country began to place a tremendous emphasis on STEM education at the expense of Social Studies and Civics. This has been quantified by both the number of credits taken and the time allocated to civic education. With a new emphasis on high stakes testing in reading, math and science that emerged from No Child Left Behind, expressive social skills that often are formed from courses in history, civics and the humanities were no longer offered or reduced significantly. 

Where is it then that young people can safely practice and form meaningful conversations that would constitute discourse that is civil? At Grand Canyon University, we began a deliberate effort to create opportunities for young people to engage in this process. Beginning in 2022, we created a series of workshops that provided ground and online faculty with the acumen to encourage civil discourse in their classes. From there, we continued to encourage students to be heard without personalizing or directing criticisms at specific groups or individuals.

Our culminating offering was for students to voluntarily attend a town hall just before the November 2024 election. Our college Speech and Debate team presented opposing positions not on the candidates per se but on the candidates’ positions on major concerns during the election, ie. inflation, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, housing and affordable health care.

After the presentation, we provided an opportunity for students to stand and ask a question of their peers who presented at the town hall. At first, no one raised their hand to comment. Silence ensued and I personally began to question whether we had made any impact on our attendees.

After a few minutes, a hand went up, followed by two more. By the time we had finished, over 30 students had asked questions or made comments. They were energized, perhaps because they felt heard, but ultimately because they were in a safe space that role-modeled polite, civil exchange on issues that matter to their futures.

After all, it’s Thomas Jefferson who stated, “I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend."

Dr. Sherman Elliott is dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Grand Canyon University. He wrote this for Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.