What
are you passing along?
Growing
up in
When
I taught that was one of the things I would do… I would throw out a controversial
idea and see what the students came up with.
I didn’t put my own views out there, being impartial is paramount to this
form of teaching, and allowed the students to figure things out for themselves. My rules were always the same (and they still
are) if it’s your opinion state so, if you’re going to label it as fact then
have the proof and never go into an argument without something to back you up…
things aren’t what they are just because “they just are”.
This
past weekend I spoke with my nephew Boo Boo.
He was telling me that his class (he’s in sixth grade) is studying the Earth
and that his teacher showed Al Gore’s An
Inconvenient Truth in one class and brought in “the hippie mayor” to talk
to the class. I asked what he thought
about all of it and he stated that “it’s all lies and why should I care about
it, I let future generations deal with it.”
I could hear other brother ideas and words coming out of Boo Boo’s mouth
(well, minus the foul language and expletives normally uttered every few words
when other brother talks). I asked Boo
Boo if that’s what he really thought or if that was just his father talking… he
thought a moment and said that it was what he heard his dad say. Knowing his love of hunting, camping and just
being outdoors I asked him if he thought that the places where he participates
in those activities would still be as nice as they are without someone taking
care of them? If he knew how there is
still land around today where you can hike, hunt and camp? And since he really enjoys history I asked
if he knew that Teddy Roosevelt was a major land conservationist?
Boo
Boo was very interested in the questions I brought up and I just finished with
telling him that he needs to start getting the facts and listening to all sides
with an open mind and not merely parrot what he hears from others. And there is no need to be disrespectful simply
because you don’t agree with their ideology.




