Today in Gr 9 English a student asked, apropos of nothing, "Why do peaceful protests sometimes turn violent?"

I put the question on the board and tabled it until the last 15 minutes.

And then watched probably the single best "teachable moment" of my 20 year career unfold.

We talked about anger as a normal, legitimate and powerful response to injustice.

We talked about how sometimes "polite" protests are playing a losing game by following someone else's rules, and how sometimes "polite" protests are just flat-out ignored.

We talked about how individual violence is sometimes a consequence of systemic violence, how for some people being alive means being exposed to ongoing violence, pondered whether violence can be a legitimate response to that kind of trauma, can be a functional tool of protest.

The kids started it. They ran with it. All the ideas above came from them.

They provided their own examples: Black Lives Matter and the deaths of Black Americans and Canadians at the hands of the police. They knew the names, knew the stories.

They knew about First Nations land disputes and the blockades around #1492landbacklane in Caledonia. They knew about Macdonald and genocide. They knew about residential schools. They knew about Chief Big Bear. They knew about treaty negotiations stalled in courts for decades.

They knew about the police tear-gassing protesters in Seattle, Montreal, Hong Kong.

My sweet, happy, kind suburban grade 9s connected a LOT of dots today.

Every kid spoke. Every kid contributed. Every kid engaged thoughtfully. Every kid was respectful of everyone else's opinions.

I mostly just moderated--now you, now you, now you; back to you, thank you for your patience; can you develop that thought?

Might have been the most educational 15 minutes of school I've ever been fortunate enough to witness. A heck of a discussion to end off a really wonderful first block.

So sad that today was my last day with those fierce, wonderful, thoughtful kids.

Context for all of this:

This week we've been studying the construction of Op-Ed articles. They've been reading widely on subjects of their own choosing, and they noticed a convergence of topics.

Like, even the boy who only wants to talk about sports was reading about whether pro athletes have an obligation to do more than just take a moment of silence or wear a #BLM logo on their jersey. Everybody brought something to the table.