Fair and Balanced? Not My Classroom

I spent eight years growing up in public schools.

Teachers often framed their discussions in a progressive-liberal fashion that didn’t leave room for me or other students to question the merits of their passionate advocacy. Nevertheless, my experiences with liberal bias in college have shocked me.

I remember sitting in geology class and listening to a lecture about the terrible effects of fracking. I grew up in a state that is extremely natural gas friendly, and many of my fellow students have family members who work in the natural gas industry. We’ve seen our small towns boom because of the jobs created from the American ingenuity that has tapped this natural resource.

I was unnerved, to say the least, the day my professor openly berated a conservative student.

I raised my hand, and politely asked if we could also discuss the benefits of fracking and natural gas.

My professor responded, “There are none.”

I let the conversation end there and went back to taking notes because I didn’t know how to defend my views against my doctorate-wielding professor.

I started to see more and more unconcealed biases in the classroom when I changed my major to government and political affairs. I believe my professors don’t even realize how politically one-sided their arguments are and how discouraging they can be to their students who have a differing opinion.

Related: Today’s Lecture: America a ‘Slave’ Democracy

I was unnerved, to say the least, the day my professor openly berated a conservative student. In our American Political Theory class, we had been discussing how many times congressmen cite the Constitution when they are actually citing the Declaration of Independence.

One of my classmates excitedly spoke up: “Professor! I wanted to tell you! Last night when I was watching O’Reilly on Fox News …”

My professor missed the entire point of his story, and instead openly scoffed at the fact he was watching Fox News. My jaw literally dropped. My professor missed the extremely relevant point connected to our previous discussion on mis-citing American documents. Here, my professor was more focused on belittling his student than building him up — more focused on bullying than teaching.

College is a place where open debate on the issues was once welcomed and encouraged. As individuals, we must not be afraid to ask the questions worth asking, challenging the positions our professors put forth, and squashing the stigma associated with being a conservative.

Without learning to think for ourselves and explore different points of view, we are having an intellectually impoverished experience in college.

Never again will I be unarmed with the facts, or intimidated to fight back, like I was in my geology class a few semesters ago.

Kaytee Moyer is a senior at Millersville University in Pennsylvania. This piece is part of a CampusZette series exploring the culture, oddities, and experiences of students on college campuses through their eyes.