Discussing a Polarized Election: Student, Parents, and Teachers Describe Their Experiences Discussing the 2012 Election at Home and at School

The political climate in which students, parents, and teachers experience an election has become increasingly polarized (Abramowitz & Webster, 2015), making it difficult for people to talk about politics (Wells et al., 2014). This study describes the experiences of teachers, students, and parents as they discussed an election at home and at school, in an intensely polarized state. Even though parents and teachers work hard to create an open climate (Campbell, 2008) for discussing the election, affective polarization (Sood, Iyengar, & Dropp, 2015) makes adolescents fearful of alienating friends and family, so they withdraw from the discussion. They base their decision to withdraw on two things: 1) the risk of alienating friends and family and being judged by them; and 2) the emotional intensity of the conversation. Adolescents completely avoid high risk and high intensity conversations, which reduces their exposure to opposing viewpoints and limits opportunities to learn how to disagree. Teachers reduce exposure to disagreement by limiting the scope of issues offered up for discussion and watering down those that are too controversial. Parents raise the emotional intensity level of a discussion believing it will communicate a commitment to a political cause and motivate their children to participate, when in fact it has the opposite effect and scares their children into silence.;As political conflict intensifies, the open climate for discussion gradually closes, leaving children with fewer opportunities to discuss the election. To counteract this effect, parents and teachers should recommit to fostering an open climate for discussion, recognizing that polarization requires more, not less, political discussion. They should declare an Open Climate Zone in the home and school space characterized by the following: 1) exposure to opposing viewpoints; 2) active listening by all participants; 3) a strong emphasis on political discussion as a learning opportunity designed to explore new viewpoints; 4) downplaying competition; and 5) promoting mutual respect for all participants. Open Climate Zones normalize conflict caused by polarization and recognize that discussing an election is an essential component to a complete and authentic civic education.