Op/Ed: It's adults who are fragile. Students can handle uncomfortable themes in class.

I recently stumbled upon the viral story of the Moms for Liberty Hamilton County chapter’s newsletter, which quoted Adolf Hitler: “He alone who controls the youth, gains the future.” While the context of their apology clarifies the intent of the inclusion (albeit, a little too late), the idea’s premise is flawed. I graduated from Hamilton Southeastern Schools (HSE) in 2009. I grew up listening to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck as background noise in my home. I took AP government from a teacher with a cardboard cutout of Ronald Reagan in the front of the classroom. I dedicated myself to the evangelism of others in my school, such as when I preached the gospel to my AP literature class with the Lifehouse “Everything” YouTube skit during our existential unit. I was the real deal.

Among all these influences, I still graduated as a deeply sad, emotionally damaged queer kid. And if my effort could have changed the course of my life — I would not be the expansive person I am today. This year, I read Maia Kobabe’s “Genderqueer,” the most banned book in the United States, and I cried realizing how much that memoir could have eased my adolescent shame and isolation. After years of feeling uncomfortable with myself, I have been able to heal, and the last thing I want is LGBTQ students to have similar experiences as I had growing up.

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What does it say to students that some characteristic of identity or family configuration is seen as inherently profane? The damage of adult fragility, religious indoctrination and homophobia persists. My solace at HSE was in my English teachers. While they did not know I was queer but saw a funny, inquisitive intellectual deviant. I am alive (and successful) today because of their compassion.

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We read and discussed things that were uncomfortable, such as the themes of war, desperation, racism and injustice in novels such as “Heart of Darkness,” “Invisible Man,” “Waiting for Godot” and “The Grapes of Wrath.” Despite the claims that these topics are too much or that books in the library are inappropriate — students are not fragile. By introducing difficult topics in the classroom, my English teachers made me better prepared for the everyday disagreeableness of adulthood. The fundamental changes in my life did not occur because I read a book about sex or racism or gender identity or puberty (God forbid) — it was because I learned to have conversations and sit with my dissonance. After completing a bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree, I still maintain my AP composition course during my senior year was the most challenging and beneficial course I have ever taken.

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When I entered college in 2009, I still retained most of my conservative beliefs until I started meeting others. If you want to mold your children’s beliefs, content is less important than making their worlds so small that they never engage a stranger. Any eventual changes in my political stances had nothing to do with the content of the classroom or library books. The purpose of education is to tolerate ambiguity. Stop vilifying educators. Students deserve access to credible information, and students who do not have access to high-quality resources will find information on the computers in their pockets instead. If I can suggest a quote by the immutable Mr. Rogers for your next newsletter: “Knowing we can be loved exactly as we are gives us all the best opportunity for growing into the healthiest of people.”

Lauren Bouchard, MS, Ph.D., is a social gerontologist and educator committed to inclusive lifelong education.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Books didn't change my political views; engaging with people did.