Chapter 3: When Does Free Speech Become Offensive Speech?: Teaching Controversial Issues in Classrooms

Grade 12 students in my son’s psychology class had been asked to share their deepest reactions and thoughts toward the victims of the Charlie Hebdo incident in Paris. Charlie Hebdo is a satirical magazine that had published controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Students felt sympathetic toward the victims and solely held Islamic extremism responsible for it. During the heated conversations, a female Muslim student stood up and voiced her perspective. Given the teacher’s discomfort with the potential reaction to the counter story, he shut down a crucial conversation that could have created a space for critically assessing polarizing debates.