The issue of free speech has become a hot topic lately.

Anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock in the last few months would probably agree.

On college campuses across the nation, issues like anti-Semitism have raged.

Transgender conversations have popped up all over the country.

And extremist views have resulted in deaths in places like Michigan, North Carolina and perhaps most notably in Utah, where Charlie Kirk, founder of the conservative organization Turning Point USA, was shot and killed by a lone gunman during an event there.

His death shocked conservative networks nationwide, sparking social media debates and led to the suspension and eventual reinstatement of comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show on ABC.

The debate has come closer to home, turning up in the Lehighton Area School District, where Joy Beers, school board president, breached the topic of a Turning Point USA club forming at Lehighton Area High School during a recent meeting.

Beers said that after Kirk’s assassination, she was contacted by two parents indicating interest in starting a TPUSA Club in the school district.

On background, the organization founded by Kirk in 2012, is a conservative youth organization that promotes free markets, limited government and civic engagement.

The organization says it has chapters in 3,500 high schools and college campuses with more than 250,000 students as members and an annual budget of $80 million. In a Sept. 18 media post, TPUSA claims it received more than 62,000 requests from high school and college students since Kirk’s shooting asking to start a new chapter or get involved with an existing one.

The group gives chapters digital resources, access to requested conservative speakers and a dozen “activism kits” to promote issues ranging from voter registration, free speech and gun access to kits entitled “Make America Healthy Again.”

Its website hosts a “Professor Watchlist” that allows students to report teachers and leadership for having “radical left” views. Its similar watchlist for school boards and their members is described as a tool to find and expose leadership that supports “anti-American, radical, hateful, immoral and racist teachings in their districts, such as Critical Race Theory, the 1619 Project, and sexual/gender ideology.”

After some discussion, the board decided to gather more information before making a decision on establishing a local TPUSA club.

Along the way, members might consider how they might balance the conservative viewpoint with educational integrity.

Schools in Lehighton — and elsewhere, for that matter — should support opposing viewpoints and welcome clubs supporting them.

Even more, board members might better advocate for a robust, nonpartisan education in civics — not just a semester or so, but a course of study that teaches how government works at all levels, how to vote, how to evaluate media sources and how to engage in an honest, respectful dialogue when there are any differences of opinion.

They might take a look at the work being done by the folks at PA Civics, a nonpartisan coalition that includes educators, businessmen, lawyers and lawmakers to promote a solid civics education.

The coalition, with Coaldale’s own former Pennsylvania House Speaker, Keith McCall, as a board member, is hoping to turn around a decline in student proficiency when it comes to knowing how government works.

While there’s no standardized test that measures civics knowledge, a conservative educational think tank, the Thomas Fordham Institute, gave Pennsylvania an “F” grade when it comes to standards for civics education.

Instead of merely meeting the obviously inadequate benchmark, Lehighton folks might focus on exceeding them, or reaching for new heights when they’re revised.

That might be achieved through encouraging its teachers to become part of updated instructional development programs and exploring new resources in the years ahead.

Local board members might explore ways to encourage the Pennsylvania Board of Education to modernize and move forward on upgrading standards as soon as possible.

PA Civics also advocates that schools recognize outstanding student achievements, honoring them and their teachers, goes far in promoting the cause. That’s something Lehighton might look into.

A proper civics education helps students understand how government works and how they can participate.

It’s not about left or right.

Establishing participation in causes that espouse either of those views at a local high school is certainly a test of just how far our knowledge of civics extends.

Properly done and welcoming opposing opinions might encourage an open, rational discussion.

But doing so haphazardly compromises the core of an open, honest education.

When it comes to our kids, schools should focus on civics and classrooms where students learn to think critically and speak respectfully.

In plain language, let’s focus on teaching our kids how to think, not what to think. When they’re old enough to vote, they can make their own decisions.

These days, doing that could be a real turning point.

ED SOCHA | tneditor@tnonline.com

Ed Socha is a retired newspaper editor with more than 40 years’ experience in community journalism.

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.