On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump’s first day of his second term, he signed Executive Order 14149 “Restoring Freedom of Speech.” Since that day, the Trump administration has created an atmosphere of oppression in America that has railed against free speech, creating a serious systemic threat to the First Amendment. With the recent example of the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel, the attack on free speech has been rampant. We must not allow Parker to succumb to this intimidation.
This unfortunate force has already infiltrated Parker though. The Israel-Palestine conflict has separated students, faculty, and parents, causing the topic to be censored in school. Teachers have been told not to foster discussions surrounding the conflict due to significant backlash from students and adults, not only breaking Parker’s Mission, but also mirroring what is happening nationally.
The censorship on our “progressive” education is disturbingly alarming. Education has been limited for centuries to limit knowledge, not allowing people to cultivate their own thoughts. If one doesn’t have knowledge on something, what’s stopping them from believing propaganda, and how would one debate with no knowledge? No education means no based perspectives. It has become controversial at our self-proclaimed progressive institution to teach truthful history. If you are offended or feel called out by facts that would be taught in a history lesson, maybe it’s time to rethink your own viewpoints and values.
Students must be educated on the topics surrounding them to provide a basis of information to foster healthy discourse within Parker. With heightened tensions surrounding the 2024 election, there was still an informative Morning Ex dedicated to educating the Upper School on its results. It provided a basis of unbiased information for the Upper School to draw from, whether that be for personal or argumentative reasons. This prevented unproductive and uninformed debates amongst students which allowed for varied but respected opinions. We need more unbiased education presented at Parker to foster a space where factual information drives an argument.
The foundation of ideological growth is disagreement.
It is crucial to promote tough conversations, healthy discourse, and free speech within academic institutions in order to defend the First Amendment. That said, the mainstreaming of hate speech, racism, and xenophobia should not be permitted under the cloak of American rights. Saying the First Amendment protects all speech should not minimize hate speech’s impact, or normalize its presence in mainstream media, politics, and even our daily lives. So, as a school, we should be conscious of how we define free speech. Just because an opinion has been labeled conservative and an expression of free speech doesn’t make it unproblematic. We shouldn’t be trying to justify getting away with blatantly disrespectful comments in the pursuit of debate. In other words, people should think about if what they’re about to say is going to hurt someone’s identity. If the answer is yes, we hope that their Parker education has taught them what their next move should be.
We encourage everyone to have those difficult discussions about contested topics with empathy in the pursuit of broadening perspectives. Arguments aren’t meant to be won. Arguments aren’t meant to “destroy” the other side. Arguments are meant to reach something valuable. Whether that is clarity, new perspectives, or movement towards a solution—just know that it starts from within. Parker should be a place where hard conversations are building blocks towards mutual understanding instead of walls.