Cover the children's ears, folks, it's a controversial idea

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/04/obama.schools/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
Cnn reports:

The White House said the address, set for Tuesday, and accompanying suggested lesson plans are simply meant to encourage students to study hard and stay in school.

Many conservative parents aren't buying it. They're convinced the president
is going to use the opportunity to press a partisan political agenda on
impressionable young minds.

"Thinking about my kids in school having to listen to that just really
upsets me," suburban Colorado mother Shanneen Barron told CNN Denver affiliate
KMGH. "I'm an American. They are Americans, and I don't feel that's OK. I feel
very scared to be in this country with our leadership right now."

Okay, I'm probably preaching to the choir, but, seriously? What has happened to America - and particularly to conservative Americans - that we can no longer tolerate having our children exposed to anything but the parents' own ideas?

Fer crying out loud, President Obama is OUR president. All of us. When libs were faulting Bush for Iraq, right wingers did plenty of hand-wringing about the importance of honoring the President, but when the vote is on the other foot, parents are upset at the idea that their children might actually hear a message from the President? Please, please tell me this is a joke. The President is the leader of our nation and he deserves our respect - not necessarily our agreement or affection, but at least the courtesy we would extend to a slightly batty elderly relative - out of respect for our nation. And if we can humor crazy Aunt Edna, then I think we're capable of treating the office of the Presidency - and, by extension, the person who holds that office - with enough respect to recognize his right to believe as he believes, even when we disagree with him. In doing so, we teach our children a little something about behaving appropriately and honoring our nation - all the more so when we teach our children to respect the President we may not like.

Within our free society - the free society that ultra-right-wing and ultra-left-wing conservatives claim to value - there is room for difference of opinion. You might believe that Ben & Jerry's is the best ice cream ever made, and I would argue that homemade, fresh, natural ice cream is the best ever made. It's okay - we can agree to disagree. When we teach our children to recognize and respect disparate (and sometimes wrong) points of view, we raise good citizens. When we stick our fingers in the kids' ears and yell "lalalala I can't hear you," we fail to teach our children the important lessons of maturity. When our kids are exposed to bad ideas, we can teach them the all-important ability to measure each claim on its own merits, a skill that will protect them when exposed to truly bone-head ideas like street racing, playing russian roulette, becoming young parents, and all manner of dangerous youthful inclinations.

Listen up, American extremists (lefties AND righties!), it is possible for children to see or hear an idea without accepting it at face value. That is why nature gave parents the ability to talk and gave children the ability to listen, understand, and consider. If your children are exposed to ideas that run counter to your beliefs, then talk to the kids about it. Explain why you believe differently. Explain why you hope they will grow up agreeing with you on the topic. If you are right, your kids will probably recognize that you are right and they will probably agree with you.

Yep, that's right folks, children can watch people kiss or discuss sex on TV and still think "hmm, that's not right for me at my age;" they can watch their peers get high and say "I think that's a bad idea, and I'm not going to join in;" they can listen to the President and think "I respect our nation's ideals, I respect the office of the Presidency, and I am still going to fight overly liberal policies that I believe are detrimental to the future of our nation." Parents have the ability - and the responsibility - to help children recognize differences of opinion, different religions, different cultures, and different values and make the best decisions that the child can make.