Controversial Issues

Why do we bother with censorship? When you watch television and you hear a bleep or see a blur, most people know what is going on. Do we feel that our children are going to be corrupted if they are ever exposed to anything that they wouldn't see or hear at a church? At a school students are going to interact with other students that will introduce these things to other students whether it is intentional or not. I know, from my personal experience, many students that both learned new things from other students and told things to other students. Some students were interested and curious about these things that they had been "shielded" from, and some wanted nothing to do with these things that they had been "shielded" from.

So knowing that, in some form or another, the students are going to learn things that their parents do not want them to learn, why are we not talking about "controversial issues" in class? There are many current events that students are interested in that we as educators are not talking about. We have something that students are interested in and completely ignore it. We could be developing the skills of reasoning and empathy by looking at the issues and each viewpoint.

I believe that we are losing these skills of reasoning and empathy as a nation. People in the United States tend to care about themselves before even considering others. This does not bode well because we are only a part of the world, and our standing in the world is decreasing when viewed from other nations. Large SUV's, a lack of an efficient public transportation system, being aggressive and starting wars without a solid, definite reason, and having an arrogant and ignorant population that only cares about themselves creates an image that most cultures would scoff at.

Of course, there is an appropriate age for this, and I would not recommend this for anyone that was not in high school. Teaching and talking about these issues can be delicate and I believe that in high school the students would be able to make their own decision about the issue and defend their view in class. The teacher would need to moderate to make sure the discussion wouldn't get too heated and prevent any religious beliefs from entering the discussion, because once they do, everything turns south. I'm not saying that they can't use their religious beliefs to form their opinion, but to start quoting from the Bible and saying that God does this to people that do that is beyond what would be acceptable in a classroom discussion.

Gay marriage, abortion, the death penalty, stem cell research, and euthanasia should be talked about in high school because there is more control over the argument so that students won't get pressured into believing what their parents believe or what the radio, television, and billboard ads tell them. The student would be able to make his or her own decision from the information talked about in class and therefore have a more informed opinion and also know why the other viewpoints have their opinion as well.

Stay on top of the discussion and the topic will see some interesting viewpoints and reasonings.