Fall 2025      Volume 53, Number 4

Helping Our Students Connect
By Sara F. Shacter

Document: Special Feature  

Introductory Paragraph:  Is our polarized country at a tipping point?  As a nation, we’ve survived division. The Civil War. The 1960s. But the unique circumstances of America in 2025—the collapse of traditional media coupled with the dominance of social media, plus the increased difficulty of discerning fact from fiction, to name but a few stressors—has led to the rise of something that feels new.  Generalized hatred.  The other side is stupid. Morally bankrupt. As individuals, they are all beyond reproach. How can they believe what they believe? The only logical path forward is to fight. Fight hard. I understand the instinct. I feel it too. And make no mistake: at any point in history, there is fighting that must be done. We must attack injustice and cruelty. But while we wage those wars, I propose there is another type of battle that must be fought.  The battle to connect.

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.33600/IRCJ.53.4.2025.34

Page Numbers:   34-36