If you have felt overwhelmed by seemingly nonstop major news events, imagine being 14 and having that content follow you onto your school bus and to baseball practice. Imagine being told to “pick a side” on a contentious issue before you’ve had time to learn enough to form a responsible view.
Since October 2023, the Middle East conflict has dominated social media feeds with powerful images and opinions. That intensity has spilled into American public life. Similar things happen with U.S. news; young people see graphic videos of events like Charlie Kirk’s assassination and fatal interactions with ICE agents in Minneapolis on their phones with no warning and long before adults can support them in interpreting what they see.
This week, our research team released a report at Chapman University, Coming of Age in Polarized Times: Teaching Civil Discourse in a Digital Era, drawing on a year of interviews with middle and high school students and educators. The report examines what pulls young people apart—and what helps them talk to each other about polarizing issues.
Teens told us they understand that algorithms shape what they see, and know that their feeds are not neutral. Some “hack” their feeds by blocking accounts and liking posts “on both sides.” But they also want their feeds to be fun. And they can’t fact-check a fleeting clip the way they can reread a textbook.
One of the most hopeful things teens reported is that classrooms are one of the few places where they can ask real questions and change their minds—when teachers are able to create the right conditions.
Teachers feel responsible for helping kids talk about tough issues. But, they are also afraid of being seen as biased—or becoming the next viral controversy. Many pointed to limited time, training, resources, and leadership support.
Students see the gaps. They notice when teachers avoid discussion altogether. They also notice when conversations are opened—and then abruptly shut down the moment tension rises.
California is a national bellwether for education battles, including those over tech in schools and curricular content. Avoiding tough topics does not protect students. If we leave young people to learn the hardest lessons of our time in digital spaces engineered for outrage, we should not be surprised when they conclude that disagreement is dangerous.
Orange County is the ideal place to model a better approach. We are one of the nation’s most politically “purple” counties, and are racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse. Good things happen on K–12 and university campuses when no one assumes their view is the default—as long as schools can structure conversations that reward grappling with evidence and curiosity about how others think.
Schools cannot solve geopolitics. But they can foster the habits that democratic life depends on. This is not a call for schools to become partisan battlegrounds, but to be what they are uniquely positioned to be: places that slow students down, anchor them to credible evidence, and make room for more than one thing being true at a time.
This is also where adults have more power than they realize.
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Vikki Katz is executive director of Or Initiative, and Fletcher Jones Foundation Endowed Chair in Free Speech in the School of Communication, at Chapman University. Michael H. Levine is an expert on youth development, digital media and educational technology. He is director of partnerships and Strategy at Or Initiative.
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