"Teaching Tolerance in America" by Dudley Erskine Devlin

“Teaching Tolerance in America” (found on page 190) by Dudley Erskine Devlin exposed a few good points but also a couple debatable ones as well. He described the high school environment as a whole and as an outsider looking in. If I put myself into his shoes and look at the social environment at his stance then the way he describes the racism, sexism, bullying, etc. is totally understandable. Devlin gives the impression that high schools involve nothing but misbehavior and social issues. However, as a senior in an inner-city high school the acts of racism and sexism that the author describes is definitely an over statement.

The author explains that social cliques within schools in America are separated between racial, gender, and social differences. He says that these differences cause many conflicts, yet when I look upon my own individual social life I don’t any of these differences to effect my relationships with others. It has been said that people are attracted to others that are similar to themselves; it also makes sense when people of the same culture are able to talk more often because of their commonalities. That doesn’t mean that there has to be conflicts. Yes, I have my close friends and I can admit that a large portion of them are very similar to me. At the same time I have a large variety of individuals that I can easily talk to and feel comfortable around.

Like I said, when you look at the social interaction between students in high school it’s easy to see certain conflicts and base your opinion of the whole environment on that. To get the real understanding you’d have to be in the middle of everything and experience what the current generations of students are experiencing. It’s simple to assume that high schools today are full of conflict, but it’s impossible for me to agree because I have gone through the full experience and although many social issues may occur they’re definitely not caused by race, gender, or social differences.