Argumentative Essay (Toulmin structure)

Argumentative Essay

Censorship of History in the U.S K-12 school system has negative effects on students. Censorship of information in history classes is as simple as leaving out details here and there that are deemed unimportant or too controversial for students. K-12 Curriculum has a tendency to remove parts of history that are centered around civil disobedience.  Censoring students will limit the ability for students to :do their own research, understand different social issues, and understand significant historical events.

When history is censored in the education system , it causes K-12 students to not have a full understanding of the United States history. When these students do not have a full understanding it leads to them making false connections. Students are taught from a young age to almost blindly trust teachers as they should in base settings ,but when it comes to history, students should understand that there is most definitely information that is not covered in the curriculum.

Censoring history in the education system will cause students to not have a full awareness of how the country operates, this in turn can cause students to make false assumptions as they become older. A large majority of K-12 students may not go on to higher education so the only learning environment they will be exposed to is k-12. On top of that, teachers in grade school have a large impact on their students, which is great except for when they teach students to “only care about the base material”. Students need to be encouraged to understand history in its entirety and not just the curriculum. Natalie Wexler talks about the impact teachers have on students in an article titled  “How classroom technology is holding students back”. The impact that in person teachers have on students is prevalent in this article, this shows just how much students in grade schools are affected by their teachers.

When schools censor information they are not only removing that information from students but they are removing the necessity for students to do their own research on these topics. When you tell students for 12 years of school that “Christopher Columbus discovered America” they take that at face value and do not look into it any further than what is necessary for a test or assignment. This is ultimately censoring what the k-12 students learn, In an article by bronwyn Howell titled “Social media, censorship, and coddling internet users” the dangers of censorship are brought to light. Howell talks about how censoring materials leads to a decrease in the willingness for consumers to fact check. This logic also applies to students, if you are always taught to believe everything a teacher says then you will have no willingness to check information yourself.

Students tend to have different levels of understanding of different subjects and of different political/social issues. A student being raised by far left parents will have different understandings then a child raised by far right parents. When things are left out of school history to appease those in a community where certain ideals are found apon you are not able to teach the topic in its entirety. In the closing paragraph of Howells article the topic is about how blanketing all children from things that are only harmful to one or a few children ultimately hurts all of the children by having been denied exposure to a certain thing. Ther paragraph opens with the following:The authors liken the effect in universities to the unfortunate growth of peanut allergies observed among children subjected to blanket bans on peanuts in childcare centers. “While a small number of children are truly allergic, none of the rest go on to develop the natural immunity that results from normal exposure to peanuts” (Howell). The students being shielded from peanuts parallels with students being shielded from certain historical information that can have a greater effect on some students over others

An argument against this claim could be “teachers do not have the time and resources to teach students everything”, while this is true my claim falls more on the curriculum set in place for teachers. Students should be taught all the past historical issues including racial issues, gender issues, sexual orientation issues, etc without it being simplified or censored. Generally k-12 teachers will teach the straight material needed for students to pass the end of course tests. This is all well and fine but teachers should have the freedom to mention the parts of history that school boards have deemed too graphic.

My argument is firm as it argues for change that can be made over a short period of time. My argument  is for a change in how we present material to students, this change in time will change how students view historic material. This is a bigger issue than just school curriculum, but a shift in presentation in curriculum is just the start.

Works cited

-Howell, B. (2020, June 8). Social media, censorship, and coddling internet users … Retrieved October 15, 2020, from https://www.aei.org/technology-and-innovation/social-media-censorship-and-coddling-internet-users/

-Wexler, N. (2020, April 02). How classroom technology is holding students back. Retrieved October 15, 2020, from https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/12/19/131155/classroom-technology-holding-students-back-edtech-kids-education/