Educators of all political persuasions are struggling to figure out how someone who is so intellectually, emotionally and morally unfit to be president of the United States could have attained such a position. Is it possible that the rise of social media and “reality” television that ushered in an era where reading substantially declined had something to do with this?

This might be a bit of technological determinism, but perhaps schools need to play a larger role in order to mitigate the deterioration that these technologies may have unleashed on our public discourse. The Trump presidency has brought about a resistance that all too often responds to his puerile Twitter comments and incoherent outbursts with similar tropes of mockery and derision.

Since our politicians appear unwilling or unable to bring a much-needed unifying discourse to the public conversation, perhaps it falls to classroom teachers to ignite such a discussion.

Larry Hoffner, retired