Not all children just spout out their parents opinions. Some parents raise their children to critically analyze something and make their own choice. My parents definitely instilled values in my like honesty, respect, etc. I didn't even know my parents were independent until I was 15 or 16. Although this wasn't because they didn't discuss political things ever, quite the opposite. They didn't care what party I did or didn't belong to, as long as I made and informed decision based on my personal values. I am so happy that I had amazing high school government and history teachers. Every Friday each student in class would bring in a news article; we would discuss the articles a little bit. They helped give me the tools to be an informed voter and a critical thinker. We discussed politics all the time, however the teacher mostly encouraged critical thinking through questioning. While talking politics with five-year-olds wouldn't be very productive. I think it would be a detriment to ban all political discussion until a student is 18.
That is a valid point. I love telling kids how segregation worked in the south before civil rights legislation and even years after. This during black history month. They are always amazed and angry when they hear how it was. I guess it is my version but I know what I saw here in the south.
Statistically, children's political views remain similar to their parents'/caretakers' views, even when they make a conscious attempt to rebel. Actually, our views remain closely tied to our parents' views through adulthood. It has nothing to do with a lack of critical thinking; we're just exposed to our parents' ideologies, one way or another, throughout early childhood.
I had an opportunity to participate in a discussion on the new health care bill in a class today. Some of my students use computers in another teachers' classroom during one period. When I went into the classroom to check on these students, the instructor was talking about the health care bill. She listed some pros and cons of the bill along with opinions from politicians on both sides of the discussion. She then showed a short video of John Stossel discussing the health care system in other countries to the class. During the listing of the pros and cons, I noticed some of the information she gave was "spun" to give the bill some undeserved credit in a certain area. Once the video began, I approached the teacher and asked if I could participate in the discussion after the students completed some of their work. She graciously agreed. So I got the opportunity to discuss the bill and give some of my own pros and cons based on my personal experience in the health care field and with a chronic illness. My primary emphasis was that there is misinformation on both sides of the issue, so the students need to research all perspectives and decide for themselves what the "truth" really is.
If you note I didn't say the majority one way or another. I just said not all children blindly repeat what their parents believe politically. Yes it may be so in most cases, however how will children of young adults be able to think critically about their own (or different views) if they are hushed. I'm not saying you should try to convince them one way or another, just allow student to develop critical thinking skills by having to prove their opinion to another classmates. This would of course be more in the realm of a government or social studies class. But, it could enter into science (human/animal testing), reading(banned books), and many other subjects.
I don't give my political views in the classroom. Don't do it. You never know when it could come back to haunt you.
But politics is a big aspect of History. And so... Don't you think it's a teacher's obligation to inform students, even if it differs from conventional wisdom? For example, do you imagine that your opinion would be different, of a teacher in Nazi Germany? I agree that bringing "politics" in the classroom is a touchy subject, especially for impressionable children (i.e. kids under a certain age, who don't have the reasoning ability yet). And I'm not saying you should pound your "conspiracy theories" down the children's throats... and you should lay things out in a (seeming) impartial way. But I BELIEVE that your beliefs can/should be a part of classroom discussions.
