Indoctrinate me. I dare you

One of the best things about America is that, when the president decides to give a speech to all the country's schoolchildren, local teachers can choose not to show it. One of the worst things about America is that some make that choice.

Those who did, and the parents who demanded it, blew an important opportunity to teach schoolchildren something they must know if America is to survive their generation: Don't believe everything you see.

I remain bewildered by those who insist they have a right to never hear anything they disagree with.

It's childish and stupid when pushy leftists demand all references to God be stricken from public buildings. It's equally so when scared conservatives demand schools prevent a school kickoff speech from President Obama.

The First Amendment guarantees the affirmative right of free speech. To guarantee that right, it necessarily must exclude the aforementioned negative right to never hear what you don't like. We can have one or the other, not both. The Constitution guarantees speech, not silence.

It's becoming clearer all the time that the Founding Fathers held a higher regard for themselves and their neighbors — and their children — than do Americans today. Obviously, many of us think other people (including family members) are pretty dim. They also seem to think they hold no responsibility to raise their own offspring.

I can't count the number of times my mom has told me not to believe every word I heard at school, from Kindergarten into law school. By the 7th grade, I was quite familiar with the concept that sometimes teachers and textbooks lie. I supplemented what I heard at school with books I read outside of class, news on TV and in the newspapers, documentaries on The History Channel and National Geographic, and countless conversations with trustworthy (and some not so trustworthy) adults.

If atheist parents don't like the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, they ought to tell their children to go silent when the other kids say them. If conservative parents are convinced that Mr. Obama will give a weekly socialist manifesto that their kids must endure, they ought to teach their kids why socialism is bad and why the president is wrong.

That's not a difficult prospect: Even 9-year-olds like an allowance for doing chores. And he won't like it if you try to make him share with the neighbor kid who didn't help.

If children are not taught to resist the lies they are told at school (by the president, their teacher, or the devious classmate who wants to see them in trouble), they won't learn to see through the lies that will be told them by politicians and others for the next 50 years.

If they aren't allowed to see hear something they disagree with said persuasively, they won't develop a means of resistance, they won't ever think about why they think the way they think. They'll not learn to develop an intelligent, persuasive response. If they are taught that they ought to be liberal or conservative or Martian because that's what their parents were, they won't ever have any ideas of their own.

A decent school will teach kids the basics of reading, writing, history, math and science. A good school will teach them to think for themselves, to remain skeptical, to disagree (and boldly) when they have a reason to. A great school will teach them to look for reasons to disagree. In any event, a child's parents are far more important to his education than the school is.

By the time a child is in middle school, he ought to have an internalized, natural idea (incomplete but strong) of how he thinks and why — and he ought not be afraid of expressing it or of hearing something from a different perspective. By the time they're in high school, they'll need to know how to see it coming without any forewarning.

When they hear of someone trying to "indoctrinate" them, they ought to be ready to react with a sarcastic: Go Ahead and Try, Punk. I Know What You're Up To.

They ought to be able to think independently of their teacher, their classmates, the principal, the president, Zack Morris or their parents. If we don't let them, if we don't encourage them, freedom will die in their lifetime.

Even before their intellect has developed to that stage, they need exposure to a variety of thoughts. In most of the things they do, elementary school children are completely overwhelmed; they're used to it. They like it that way. Tell them to sink or swim, and very few of them actually need the lifeguard.

My recommendation for schools for the future: Show the speech. Ask the students what they liked about it. Ask what they didn't like about it. What they agreed with and disagreed with. Some will be for Obama, and some against. Welcome to America.

I remember when my cousin was in Kindergarten during the 2004 presidential campaign. Not yet able to read, her class voted by checking the box on the ballot near the picture of their favorite candidate. Little Kayla took the extra step of scribbling all over John Kerry's face. Kids are smarter than we realize.

It says a lot about the government

I was surprised to hear President Obama's planned speech to the nation's schoolchildren would be a first by a president. I was even more surprised when I saw the poll question on the Denver Post's web site: Would you encourage or discourage your child from watching this speech. When I voted, a narrow plurality would discourage their children from watching. (Some are prohibiting them.)

Mr. Obama's accompanying "what they can do to help the president" lesson plan was, of course, inappropriate. The president of the United States should speak to the country's children every year and instead encourage them to help themselves. (That's what education is for.)

But on it's face, Mr. Obama's trip to school seemed to me a legitimate 'study hard and make something of yourself, kids' pep-talk. That the White House quickly removed the "help the president" line from the lesson plan is evidence that Mr. Obama does not intend this to be controversial. Part of the president's job is, after all, making speeches and inspiring.

Today I'm more interested in the reaction that Mr. Obama's planned speech has had. It reminded me of a Rasmussen Reports poll released this week: 42 percent of American voters think "a group of people randomly selected from the phone book would do a better job than the current Congress."

We have the best government in the history of the world. Yet so many people don't trust the president of the United States to speak to their kids. So many people didn't trust the last president with anything. So many people didn't trust the president before him with their teenage daughters. So many people don't trust Congress as much as they trust "a group of people randomly selected from the phone book."

So many people don't trust the government, even to have good intentions. That says a lot about our government.