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After Renee Good was shot and killed by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis, Watsonville High School teacher Sarah Clark鈥檚 ninth grade students had a lot of questions. What precipitated the interaction? Was she yelling at them? Was she aggressive? Was she rude? Can we film immigration agents? Will we be arrested if we do?

The fatal shootings of Good and, a few weeks later, Alex Pretti, by federal officers have sparked nationwide outrage and led to student walkouts in California. In the aftermath, teachers in several districts said they have been navigating difficult conversations about the legality of federal immigration agents鈥� use of force, constitutional rights and due process, as students seek clarification about these and other events they have seen in the news and on social media.

鈥淏eing teenagers, they mouth off on occasion. They were very worried that if they were in a situation like that, and they said something, that they would be arrested, detained, searched,鈥� Clark said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot of stress to put on 14-year-olds.鈥�

Erinn Leone, history and social science content specialist for the Sacramento City Unified School District, said teaching about current events can help students learn important skills they will need as adults, such as analyzing news articles, understanding biases and being able to discuss issues with other people who disagree with them or have different perspectives.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important for making the history we鈥檙e learning in the classroom relevant, so they see that things happening today are rooted in historical context and things don鈥檛 happen out of the blue,鈥� said Leone, who recently conducted a training about teaching current events called 鈥淭eaching the Now.鈥�

In addition, she said, it鈥檚 important for students to have a space to process what they see on the news and social media. 

鈥淐urrent events impact our students. They cause fear in our students. It鈥檚 important for us to not ignore what鈥檚 happening in their everyday lives,鈥� Leone said. 鈥淲hen we don鈥檛 bring those things into the classroom, it鈥檚 noticed.鈥�

鈥楾here鈥檚 some anger, there鈥檚 shock鈥�

Los Angeles Unified School District teacher Manuel Gochez said the students in his Advanced Placement Government class had a lot of opinions about the disparities they saw between the videos of the shootings of Good and Pretti and the way the Trump administration described the shootings.

鈥淭here鈥檚 some anger, there鈥檚 shock, there鈥檚 disappointment, too, in the way people are being treated and the inhumanity of it all,鈥� he said.

Gochez and other teachers said students had questions about whether federal immigration agents were following the law, which led to discussions about what happens when law enforcement does not follow the law and the checks and balances of the three branches of government 鈥� judicial, legislative and executive.

鈥淭he students are usually the ones asking the questions and leading the conversations,鈥� Gochez said. 鈥淢y job, more than anything, is to give a space to discuss. They have a lot of thoughts and opinions, and if they don鈥檛 feel safe in the classroom or in school, it can be a lot they鈥檙e holding in.鈥�

After the Jan. 21 publication of an internal  stating agents had the right to enter homes without a judicial warrant, students in Gabriel Perez鈥檚 ethnic studies classes in Fresno Unified asked, 鈥淐an ICE come into our house now?鈥� 

鈥淚鈥檝e had students cry in front of their classmates. You see the stress, you see the fear, because many of their parents are undocumented. It鈥檚 something I see all the time,鈥� Perez said. 

First Amendment discussions 

Some English teachers are also bringing current events into their classrooms.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 extremely important to connect what鈥檚 happening now with what鈥檚 happening in our literature. I always tell students that if you really want to know what was happening at the time, read a book,鈥� said Benny Martinez, who teaches English in South Central L.A.

His 10th grade students have just finished reading 鈥淔ahrenheit 451,鈥� the 1953 novel by Ray Bradbury, in which, under a fictional future government, all books are banned and 鈥渇iremen鈥� burn them. Martinez said the book sparked discussion among his students about recent efforts to ban books about LGBTQ issues or race from some school libraries.

鈥淲e were talking about First Amendment rights and freedom of speech being taken away,鈥� Martinez said. 鈥淭he students were asking, 鈥榃hy are we banning books?鈥� It鈥檚 important to understand other points of view.鈥�

Next, Martinez鈥檚 students will read 鈥淣ight,鈥� Elie Wiesel鈥檚 memoir about surviving the Nazi concentration camps. In preparation, Martinez has been teaching his students about the Holocaust.

鈥淎 lot of them are interested in that topic because of the idea that history could repeat itself,鈥� he said.

Clark said in her district, Pajaro Valley Unified, in Santa Cruz County, ninth graders don鈥檛 take social studies, so she incorporates units on the Constitution and the history of labor unions into her English classes. This year, she also taught a unit on the history of deportations in the U.S. 

Students brainstormed questions for the class to research, including 鈥淲hat percentage of people deported have had criminal records? What percentage have been here longer than 10 years?鈥� 

Clark said the vast majority of her students are U.S. citizens, but estimated that about 25% to 30% have undocumented relatives. 

鈥淭hey are very worried. We all heard during the campaign that the administration was going to focus on criminal undocumented immigrants, and that鈥檚 just not what鈥檚 been happening,鈥� said Clark, referring to Donald Trump鈥檚 2024 presidential campaign.

Setting boundaries and guidelines 

Some teachers shy away from conversations about current events in class because they are afraid of complaints from parents or administrators. Heather Miller, who teaches 鈥淲omen and Gender in Ethnic Studies鈥� in Fresno Unified, said there is a lot of concern, especially since some ethnic studies teachers have been accused of antisemitism after discussing the war in Gaza or the relationship between Israel and Palestine.

鈥淲hat can we say? What can鈥檛 we say?鈥� Miller said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of fear around losing our jobs or getting complaints.鈥� 

Still, Miller said students bring up current events even if teachers don鈥檛. 鈥淚n my AP classes, I鈥檓 teaching imperialism right now,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hat do you say when they say, 鈥極h, are we imperializing Greenland now?鈥� 鈥� 

Leone, the history and social science specialist, recommends that teachers and students agree on guidelines for these conversations beforehand to make sure they are respectful, including acknowledging different perspectives and criticizing sources, not people. She also recommends that teachers take time to discuss how different people鈥檚 experiences and identities shape their perspectives.

As a teacher in South Sacramento, Leone facilitated discussions in her class about police shootings. Some students had loved ones who had negative experiences with law enforcement, while others had fathers or uncles who were police. 

鈥淲e鈥檙e teaching students to think about different perspectives and engage with people who have different perspectives,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important that I鈥檓 not teaching students what to think, I鈥檓 not teaching them what to believe. Every student is entitled to their own belief. But they鈥檙e also required to think critically about those things and ground their discussion in facts and truth.鈥�

Los Angeles Unified teacher Gochez said these conversations can also be an opportunity to teach students about civic participation.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an opportunity to empower them,鈥� he said, 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 like what鈥檚 occurring, you have a voice; you can do something about it.鈥�

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