Intervene or Not

I don't regard myself as a neutral observer. I am a participant. I am in the field precisely to interact with local actors. But I occasionally encounter situations where I can't tell how much I should participate. (And nobody can't tell because there is no pre-given right answer.) Today 6th graders were discussing how to improve friendship between boys and girls in their homeroom. Several boys were saying this kind of discussion was meaningless and there was no need for friendship between boys and girls. Their arguments were also driven by emotions and they were not making coherent and constructive statements. So I couldn't help raising my hand a few times and make suggestions.

I hope what I said didn't have negative effects on the 6th graders, though I don't know how much they understood what I was trying to say.