My son graduated from college last week.

I don’t share that with you to elicit applause. (Though my wife and I certainly toasted our final tuition payment.)

I share that because I was surprised by how many people asked: Is his graduation still taking place?

Yes, I would say. So are graduation ceremonies on almost every college campus in America.

Well, they would then ask: Is his campus in turmoil?

No. Neither are most college campuses.

OK, but how many of his classes were canceled? How many buildings were taken over? How much of his college experience was disrupted?

None. None. And none. COVID wreaked way more havoc on his freshman year than war protests impacted his senior.

And here’s the thing: It’s been that way for most students all over America. From my son in Florida to my nieces and nephews at schools in Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. All reported the same thing we’ve seen on most campuses: Plenty of protests. But little to no chaos.

Yes, there have been a handful of schools where protests turned ugly and got out of hand. Yes, the people who break laws have been arrested. And yes, there have been some vile instances of antisemitism that were roundly and rightly condemned. Students should never live in fear.

But if you’ve been left with the impression that students everywhere are breaking the law and spreading hate, you’ve been misinformed — probably by politicians and pundits whose goal isn’t to promote accuracy or unity but to serve their own political ends.

In fact, I’ll depart from the popular boomer reaction. Instead of shaking my head at the kids who are calling for peace, I say: Good for them. I’d be more concerned if America’s youth wasn’t traumatized by the mass slaughter of innocent lives. Frankly, I’m troubled more adult Americans aren’t as well.

Calling for peace is hardly radical. It’s a tradition as old as college itself. And that’s primarily what’s happening on most campuses. In many instances, Jewish students have led the calls.

Are some of the calls overly simplistic? Perhaps. But sometimes, the students are more right than cynical adults would like to admit. Two decades ago, when students at the University of Central Florida set up their “Tent City” to protest the war in Iraq, many adults rolled their eyes. Yet this nation’s Iraq Intelligence Commission would later conclude that the students had legitimate objections.

I’d spend less time listening to what pundits and politicians claim students are saying and more time listening to the students themselves. Sunday’s Orlando Sentinel featured George Brussenskiy, a recent UCF grad who said he stopped by a protest on the Orlando campus for a simple reason: “There’s so many innocent civilians dying in Gaza and they’re human beings just like you and me. So, if another human being is suffering, we have to speak up.”

Is that really hard to understand? Do you disagree?

At the University of South Florida in Tampa, it was similar. The Tampa Bay Times reported students there want the university to cut financial ties with the defense companies and weapons manufacturers involved in the tens of thousands of civilian deaths.

Their chant: Disclose. Divest. We will not stop. We will not rest.

Maybe you disagree. But the students were calling for the same divestment tactics Florida’s governor has tried to apply to companies that he believes are too “woke.” Except the students’ target wasn’t companies involved with clean energy but rather dead kids.

Certainly there have been instances of law-breaking and antisemitism. But that’s not the norm. There are about 4,000 colleges and universities in America. You’ve probably read about serious controversies at a dozen. Those are the ones used to create a narrative. It’s a phenomenon known as “tyranny of the anecdote” where the images you see are individually accurate but not broadly representative.

Blame mainstream media, but let’s also blame ourselves. I’ve seen the metrics on how often readers click and share feel-good news stories. It’s a pittance compared to the stories featuring extremism.

Students on campuses nationwide are doing simple things like holding prayer sessions, welcoming speakers and staging unity gatherings. How many of those stories have you seen or shared?

Sure, there are some students who don’t have a grasp of all the complexities of war. The same can be said for quite a few adults.

Most students understand Hamas’ original attack was evil. They’re just profoundly troubled by the deaths of innocents that continue. We all should be.

The bottom line: If the idea of a 19-year-old protesting the slaughter of children upsets you more than the slaughter of children itself, I’d suggest you take a step back. And maybe think about what and who is stoking your ire.

I respect the students who care enough to use their voice, who are still profoundly disturbed by war and who are participating in peaceful protests and routine graduation ceremonies — most of which are largely ignored.

smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com