Your students may be noticing and/or experiencing the negative effects of political divisions in their community and in the country right now as the election season ramps up. The United States has become increasingly polarized and divided along political lines over the last few decades. Elections tend to intensify political animosity. This effect would typically “cool off” after an election cycle. However, with the heightened levels of polarization in the US currently, researchers are finding that ebbs and flows of political polarization surrounding an election are becoming more of a consistent feature of our political life.1
At the same time, voters are actually less polarized than we might assume on how they think about issues, like access to high-quality health care and addressing climate change.2 Many policies have bipartisan support, or support from members of both the Republican and Democratic Parties. For example, 85% of Americans are in favor of requiring background checks on people who buy guns through private sales or gun shows.3
Given this complicated political landscape, it is important to help students better understand political polarization, reflect on its causes and consequences, and imagine potential solutions. Facing History’s new collection of Political Polarization Activities does just that by providing five stand-alone activities designed to help students:
- Explore the nature of politically diverse communities.
- Understand what political polarization is and its causes.
- Learn about the consequences of, limits of, and solutions to political polarization.
- Learn about the perspectives of young people across the country on the state of politics, civic engagement, and democracy.
- Imagine a world without extreme political polarization and make connections about steps that can be taken today.
Drawing on our updated Political Polarization Explainer, students can make connections between what they read and what they already know about or experience in relation to divisions or polarization in our society. They can reflect on where they see polarization in the news, the negative effects of polarization, and what individual or policy changes can help to minimize its negative effects.
A recent poll suggests that young people are concerned about the state of politics in the US.4 In fact, 57% of young adults (18-24 year olds) reported being dissatisfied with how the political system is functioning, and 40% were pessimistic about the future of our democracy. However, a meaningful number of young people (37%) said that they find conversations with those who have different views to be interesting and informative. They showed a lower degree of ideological and partisan polarization than adults and collectively prioritized democratic values. This is certainly grounds for optimism for our society now and in the future.5 In the Young People’s Perspectives on Democracy & Polarization activity, students can reflect on their own perspectives on the same topics and compare their class results to the national sample.
After examining political polarization, it’s equally valuable for students to identify the small and big steps that can make a difference in our communities and society. We can help students engage their civic imagination by exploring their hopes and visions as well as imagining alternatives that might shine a light on new and different ways to address the challenges we face in this polarized climate. The culminating activity, Imagining a World Without Extreme Political Polarization, encourages young people to consider what our country might be like in 30 or 50 years if extreme political polarization and divisiveness didn’t exist. Students also reflect together and make connections between what they imagined and what might be possible in our world today.
In a special report from EdWeek on Big Ideas for Upending Polarization, Tenelle Porter, Jon Valant and Robin Bayes share:
Realistically, we won’t find ourselves in a place anytime soon where Americans of different political persuasions have fundamentally similar views of the world. And that’s OK. What we do need, though, is to figure out how to live together peacefully despite our different perspectives. That’s something that schools can help with.6
Political diversity, where people have differences of opinion and a range of political perspectives, is a natural element of most communities. And schools and educators play an essential role in helping students learn to live together in community and society despite our disagreements. At the same time, we can also help young people to explore the individual and policy changes that will help reduce the negative effects of political polarization in our communities.
