What really puzzles me is that someone opens a thread claiming to want moral, well-rounded, less materialistic children but then infantilizes them by having their social and political views solely being taught and approved by their parents, instead of allowing those children to incorporate ideas and opinions from all kinds of sources. If something worries me about the education of a new generation, then it is that attitude of censorship by "Big Parent" that you seem to advocate. A school is exactly one of the places and settings for civil discourse out of mutual respect, knowledge, and different viewpoints and experiences. If one teacher denigrates a student for a different political view, he/she has no business being a teacher, but the same could be said of a parent - just no one will say anything. I hope you remember to stay civil when one of your children sits at the dinner table wearing a "Pro Keynes" T-shirt. But that is never going to happen with your children, isn't it? How can you ever have discussions when differing views are not even known? Thus, discussions about social and political issues have certainly a place in school at least as much as at the dinner table.
I am also wondering how you want to teach literature for example and read a classical or modern novel without touching political and social issues. That would be an awfully short list. Moreover, history would be banned from the curriculum and geography shortened to reading maps. Let's not talk about contentious topics in biology such as sex, evolution, or gene engineering. And how about arithmetic? Here is a simple example what happens when you apply it:
Let's face it: We live in a political and social world. Our children need to learn about it as much as the can from as many different angles as possible to become the well-rounded adults you would also like to have. Our duty as parents is to support their exploration of our world, not act as a gatekeeper.
And who told you that the prior version was the "truth" and not some revisionist fantasy?
). Surprised how well they sought out information on the political parties/leaders - attending or watching televised debates, watching news from multiple sources, websites. They make their own informed choices. As to the article you posted, I wonder how the lawsuit went were the judge was privy to both sides of the story - there are always two. Never ran into this kind of problem and I know some of my children's previous teachers have different political leanings than my husband and I. We had discussions on merits of parties/leaders with them outside of the classroom with kids present - these civil discussions were important for the kids to see too. The teacher's viewpoints never showed up in the classroom; discussions centered on organization of the political system and basic philosophies of each party. They had one exercise that had students pick one political party, research their viewpoints, hold an "election campaign" and have a vote. A lesson they really enjoyed and was well managed ... a test run of being a contributing member of a democracy.
