Robust Exchange of Ideas

Adults like to control the information available to kids. They don’t want their kids or even other people’s kids to learn things that may be contrary to their beliefs. This is why people try to ban books, theories, religious teachings, etc. from school. As a parent, I can understand this, but I don’t agree with it. We have a tendency to protect our children from offensive material, but who is to say the material is truly offensive? We use our own beliefs to determine this, but to limit our children to our own beliefs is to lead them on a path to ignorance. “Oh my gosh! They’re talking about spells in Harry Potter! That’s just wrong!” “They can’t teach German! That would cause my child to think like a German!” “Theory of Evolution!? There is only one creation that my child is allowed to learn!” Those are the cries of ignorance. Can we not let our children make up their own minds after having a full education on the material? My father had me attend multiple churches. He wanted me to learn about the other religions. I applaud him for that. It has taught me to be understanding of every religion.

As a teacher, I know I am not allowed to present my opinion on topics. I am there to teach the children the facts. But, in my opinion, it is also my duty to have the kids think for themselves and come up with their own educated opinions. Therefore, I will teach them any information that I deem useful for that goal. I will teach Slaughterhouse Five, Maus, Mythology, etc. I will deal with complaints as I see them. There was an old saying that “the mind is a terrible thing to waste,” well I modified that years ago to “the mind is a terrible thing to close.” Information is the currency of education. My students will be rich.