Civil Discourse Day

Maintaining Civility Amid Conflicting Ideas

On October 21st, at North Shore Middle School and North Shore High School students and their teachers in English and Social Studies classrooms engaged in lessons in Civil Discourse.

Teachers at both schools engaged students in open-minded and productive conversations to help support dialogue and assertions with reliable evidence and unprovocative communication. Students were encouraged to show respect and suspend judgement when others were voicing ideas, concerns, and opinions. They were urged not to loudly argue or be aggressive in their speech and maintain civility during conflicting ideas. Additionally, they practiced active listening skills to fully hear what their classmates were saying without interruption or impulsively voicing their opinions.

Thank you to all the English and Social Studies teachers under the direction of Mr. Seth Gordon (Director of K-12 Social Studies) for providing guidelines and lessons for our students to help maintain civil discourse not only in our schools, but in their future endeavors in our community and all over the world.

Article and photos by Shelly Newman