In John Louis on a Saturday night, the conversation casually shifts to the topic of national debate: abortion. A few girls avidly voice their opinions, but all the other girls remain silent and nod half-heartedly, afraid to voice their opinions for fear of social backlash. While self-censorship has affected political conversations for ages, it has recently expanded its reach to academic institutions as American politics grow increasingly polarized.
Deerfield Academy’s core values include “citizenship in a spirit of humility” and “connectedness to our unique setting and the contemporary world.” Head of School John Austin states on the Deerfield website that the Deerfield learning culture “includes a commitment to free and open inquiry, and to expressive freedom.” Yet, according to the Spring 2022 Thrive Survey, the student body exhibits alarming rates of self censorship; 53% of students feel uncomfortable sharing their opinions.
Why is there such a large gap between Deerfield’s core values and the Thrive Survey data? I would argue it’s because the student social scene is already too entrenched in cancel culture for the administration’s rhetoric to have an effect. Assistant Head of School for Student Life Amie Creagh said, “The implications of saying something wrong are more public and more pronounced now. I can see why people would hesitate. There is a rumor mill, and everyone has access to it.” Even though the administrative consequences of saying a cultural taboo would be minor, the social consequences could be lasting and possibly devastating.
possibly devastating. Ms. Creagh also said, “When thinking of how Deerfield students should express their views, I thought about bringing your head and your heart into a comment. With your head, you can use research, data, and discernment, and when you bring your heart into it, you bring respect, care, love, and an invitation to differ.” Yet in more private spaces such as the dormitory common room, the boundaries of what constitutes logic and respect become more relaxed, so it can be harder to differentiate harmless jokes from actual opinions. Speaking from personal experience, it can be difficult to voice views that conflict with those of another present without coming off as uninformed, apathetic, disrespectful, or even crass. So, more often that not, I stay silent.
I wonder if the reason why self-censorship is so prominent in boarding schools’ culture is because at its core, the problem is social. Intense polarization has created an environment where students, despite using all their logic and love, can’t overcome a rift between opinions. Students aren’t willing to let friendships or social standings fall into this rift, so they stay silent. While this is a problem at any school, at an institution where one eats, sleeps, and talks with the same group of people for extended periods, one must wait for months to escape the social consequences of saying something controversial in the classroom. In the “rumor mill” created by a group of teenagers, all of whom live together, the consequences of a verbal misstep can be as bad as those of a messy breakup.
No person can express their opinions flawlessly all the time, but the boarding school social scene expects absolute perfection. I know my appearance, my academic performance, and my extracurricular involvement are judged down to the wing of my eyeliner. Similarly, I know my words are judged constantly. In an environment where others’ judgment can follow me even to my own bedroom, where my political opinions have the potential to affect who wants to eat breakfast with me, I find it easier to stay silent. So do the majority of other boarding school students. According to surveys conducted by the Eight Schools Association (a collaborative of eight independent boarding schools in New England), 52.4% of students at Phillips Exeter Academy and 51.2% of students at Phillips Academy (Andover) censor themselves because of their political views [The Exonian, February 2019; The Phillipian, May 2022].
Boarding school students, despite the extensive resources their schools provide to encourage respectful disagreement in public, exhibit high rates of self censorship. Students, teachers, and administrators spend hours attending seminars and workshops learning to respect different opinions, yet the problem remains. The solution is a complete shift in boarding school social dynamics. Boarding school students need to break out of the entrenched expectation of perfection and find dignity in our differences. I don’t think that will happen while I’m here. But in case that opinion offends any of you all reading, I guess I’ll stay silent.