As summer ends and fall approaches, students and teachers alike begin a new school year. While students are busy adjusting to back-to-school routines, teachers and professors are making lesson plans for the coming year… No doubt he’s also thinking about how to present the June 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
Shortly after Roe v. Wade was decided, Elizabeth Pearson, an executive career coach from California, and her two daughters took part in a women’s march with signs inspired by Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Although her daughters, ages 7 and 10, are young, Pearson wants them to feel empowered. The march, she said, was a perfect opportunity to educate them “about how our government works and the importance of voting in elections and [practicing] self-advocacy.”
“Most importantly, because we’re talking about the Constitution, [educators should] interpret the Supreme Court’s rationale for sending this issue back to the states,” he said, but added that there are obstacles to that approach. The biggest challenge, according to Johnson, was to “successfully condense nearly 50 years of precedent and complex constitutional issues into a single speech.”
Teachers can be helped in explaining this decision
Nelson notes that many people are still confused. Even months after the verdict. “You have children in states where abortion is still legal and they think it’s banned,” he said. “Conversely, in states where abortion is illegal in most cases, children are not aware that there are exceptions to this general rule.”
Because abortion laws now vary from state to state, Johnson believes school districts should make sure teachers are prepared to teach about the legal and political aspects of the ruling as it relates to their specific state. If they are not qualified to learn the material in the classroom, there are other suitable options. He suggested that schools could “contact local law schools and invite a law student to a school assembly to discuss constitutional issues.”
A teacher participated in a discussion about adding Roe v. Wade to class discussions
Ronnie Gladden, an English professor and author of “White Girl Within,” plans to speak about the ruling in his class this year. Gladden has more flexibility and freedom in teaching 18 – to 30-year-olds than teachers who teach younger students, but he believes he faces other challenges.
“I may soon have to get more creative talking about controversial social topics,” he told Yahoo Life, “especially around abortion.”
“I teach in Ohio, which is a pretty conservative state,” he added, explaining that it didn’t sway or intimidate him at all. In his classes, Gladden says, he sticks to the facts and makes sure his “teaching will be inclusive and respectful of different points of view,” which is easy for Gladden because he sees himself as someone who “values ideas that are different from his own.”