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We weren't taught WHAT to think, so much as HOW to think....for ourselves. Ah, the good ol' days.

It is up to every parent to right the wrongs our kids pick up at school.

I made a point of asking my son about his teachers and what he was hearing in class.

Only a few times did I need to reeducate him.

When he reached 18, he registered as a Republican and I now have no worries.

I first registered as an independent and actually voted for Carter in 1976.

My son is smarter than me.......

He had a good teacher........at home.

I have serious problems with those who think that they are attempting to teach HOW to learn when in all actuality they are teaching WHAT to learn. To right the wrongs of what a child learns at school is taking away their ability to choose for themselves. If one wanted to teach how to learn, they would simply show both sides of the argument. I am a registered republican voter and believe in Bush. I am also a high school student in Colorado. I have serious reasons to believe that those who have posted in this forum have not heard the entire speech given by Jay Bennish. The media has done an extremely good job of taking his words out of context, only using those that benefit a story. At the end, he makes it clear to all of his students that he does not necessarily believe in the words he speaks, that they are merely ideas meant to inspire his students to think outside the box. This is a sophomore Advanced Placement class. That means that the level of thinking is advanced and the curriculum is more critical than that of a regular class. As a student having participated in many of these classes throughout my high school career, i am intrigued by a challenge. Mr. Bennish is not teaching his left wing principles to his students, although I do not know which party he is associated with, and he will not admit whether or not he believes in what he says. I compliment Mr. Bennish for being a teacher who stuck to what an advanced placement class should be; a place to expand a students understanding. He poses radical ideas not just to teach them, but instead to fire up the students conversation and spark critical questioning that leads to a healthy education. Mr. Bennish is not teaching Bush-bashing or any such thing to his students. Sticking to what it says in his curriculum, he is posing ideas to make his students think critically and spatially. And as far as his curriculum goes, I personally believe that the geography of our world includes much more than capitals and maps. Especially in an AP class. It entails everything from the history of how our world came to look this way to the relationships that form between countries. This has much to do with current events and how they shape our world. As far as the student who sent this directly to Mr. Rosen, I question his morality. The radical ideas seem to be a reoccurring issue in Mr. Bennish's class. This proves his concern in expanding the intellects of his students and not teaching left wing ideas. If a student were offended by this, why not take this problem up with the teacher or at least the principal where things are normally handled at school? Why go directly to the press? First of all, he invaded Mr. Bennish's privacy by recording him. It is required by law for businesses to post signs when they have surveillance in progress. Would you not feel violated if you knew that someone was recording your every word without your knowing and then had the power to take it to the media and thus bash you with your words taken out of context? The student should have had the respect and human decency to consult his teacher of his problems first. So in my view, Mr. Bennish is not a Bush-bashing ranter who was pushing his radical beliefs on his students. We don't even know if these are his beliefs. Instead, he is a fresh, cutting edge teacher who abandons the "traditional" methods of teaching (which from the past 11 years of experience I can tell you do more harm than good) and dares to make his students actually think and question everything around them, which is much more teaching them HOW to think than WHAT to think.