To all the people fretting about what message this strike sends our kids, I have two words: “teachable moment.”
One of the popular chants you hear on the pickets lines is, “This is what democracy looks like!”
How true.
This strike is the First Amendment in action — free speech, the right to assemble — and it is an incredibly inspiring example of what it means to fight for what you believe in.
If we want to instill in our children the values of civic engagement and social justice, well, this is what that looks like. Whatever your views on the current strike, this is a lesson we would all do well to remember.
So let’s please stop slamming the teachers for keeping kids out of the classroom and take this opportunity to teach them something about the values this country was founded on.
—
Lisa Roberts, Chicago
