Free speech or hate speech? The AAA framework for classrooms

Where is the line between free speech and hate speech? I explored exactly this question at Plumpton College’s EDI Summer Conference, working through the legal boundary between challenging ideas and harassment, and a simple framework I’ve developed, AAA (Address, Anchor, Act), for responding confidently in the moment. The session speaks to a genuinely difficult scenario staff and educators know well: a student or colleague defending offensive language as “just an opinion.” Having grown up under Section 28, I know first-hand how much difference a teacher stepping in can make, and why equipping staff with the confidence to do it matters.