With the country divided, Seattle area teacher encourages civil debate among high schoolers

In this politically-charged time, it can be tricky for all of us, even young people, to have a friendly disagreement.

That's why, at Highline High School in Burien, one teacher is trying to give students a life lesson on civil discourse — something to use this election, and throughout their voting years.

In this classroom of 12th graders at the Burien high school, their teacher, David Ruby, has found his students pretty divided, politically speaking.

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But they're not talking about party politics on this day. They're debating the military draft and whether it should include women and trans people, too — and whether it's ethical at all.

"Yeah, I agree with that, I know that team work makes the dream work, I suppose," one student told her group Monday, the day before Election Day. "But I think having the choice of whether you want to be involved in that dream work and where you want to divert your attention should be a choice."

Debates are a common exercise in Ruby's political science class, where he's made it his mission to teach his students civil discourse. They've tackled topics like abortion, guns, and the First Amendment — with the goal of teaching students to "attack ideas, not people."

"You can disagree with people and still come away at the end with maybe some new respect for them," Ruby said. "You can disagree with your friends — just because the person's your friend doesn't mean you have to agree with everything they say."

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On debate days, Ruby separates the students into groups and assigns roles. In the case of the draft debate, roles included women, military leaders, or people who regard war as immoral.

"I want them to think outside of their own little bubble," Ruby said. "I want them to try on ideas, be able to say things they don't personally agree with, just to see how that feels for a little bit, and maybe it gives them a little more nuance about the topic, after having been in that person's shoes."

It's also a social-emotional learning lesson for students, Ruby said.

"That's empathy, right? That's imagining you're in someone else's situation, and how would you feel if you're in that situation," he explained.

It's something he's learned more about through curriculum from Committee for Children's Second Step social-emotional learning program and resource guide on navigating tough conversations. Fourteen school districts in the greater Seattle area — and hundreds more across the nation and world — use the program.

Andrea Lovanhill, CEO of Committee for Children, said educators have key roles to play in social-emotional learning and promoting civil discourse — especially at such a politically-charged time with the election.

"Those tensions and those emotions are running high in school communities, and I think that learning to navigate disagreements, listening actively for understanding, managing tough emotions — those are skills that we do try to develop at home, but in all environments where kids and students are, it's important to lean into that," she said. "It helps us be better neighbors, better family members, and be more engaged citizens."

Back in Ruby's classroom, on debate days, the students spend a few minutes researching the topic, finding key points someone in that role would make. Then, they launch into the debate — after a handshake, of course.

Ruby has specific reasons for the way he conducts debates. "It's corny," Ruby admits, but he asks his students to shake hands before every discussion because it sets a tone of civility from the start.

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Smaller group discussions ensure more equal speaking time for students, Ruby explained, and assigning roles makes things a little less personal for students — which in turn makes it less likely the debate will devolve into unproductive territory.

"If I just have it as a free for all, it just becomes a shouting match where the people with the strongest points of view dominate, the shyest people pull back, and I really want people to feel like everybody can say something," Ruby said. "Obviously, it doesn't always work out, but if I give them a role, it's a little safer for them to try it out, versus like, 'Well, alright, go debate abortion!'"

"Adults can't do that," Ruby added. "So why should we expect teens to do that?"

Still, the debates get passionate and emotional at times — and Ruby hopes that translates into the political process for years to come.

"They're very interested in who our next president is going to be, so I've been trying to get them excited about the process," Ruby said. "A lot of them can vote, have voted, so just making them feel like it's part of being a good citizen to care about these things."