Colorado Teacher Reinstated

Well, the teacher who compared President Bush to Adolph Hitler has been reinstated with, apparently, no penalties.

He said that his statements, made in his geography class, were intended to cause the students to think for themselves. That is a good thing. Our young people do need to learn to form their own opinions about current events. So what is the problem?

If the teacher's plan was to inspire critical thinking then I think he went about it in the wrong way. Based on the tape the student made, it sounded like he was just lecturing the class not making statements and then asking the students what they thought. If he had read a speech by Hitler and a speech by Bush and asked the students for similarities and differences then he would have been inspiring critical thinking and I don't have a problem with that.

However, I do have a problem with this teacher simply stating that President Bush sounds like Hitler. I am a supporter of President Bush but I do not have my head in the sand. I know that he is not perfect. I know that he is human and he has made mistakes. But I do believe that he has the best interest of our country at heart. I do not believe that he is anything like Hitler. Those are my opinions. This teacher did not say that these were his opinions (as far as I know). As a former teacher, I feel it is important to present differing viewpoints. It is perfectly fine then to express your view and ask the students what they think.

In some cases students have been publicly humiliated for having a more conservative view than their teacher and have even been given a lower grade. It seems, in some cases, that students can express their view IF it coincides with the teacher's view. That is upside down thinking.

Teachers are very influential in the lives of our children. They should challenge their students. They should inspire their students. They should set an example for their students. In my opinion, this teacher did not do any of these. If I were a parent in this school district, I would be very upset about this incident.

We live in a nation where we are all able to express our views freely. That includes teachers. But, I think teachers need to be careful and make sure that the students they are teaching understand that they are expressing their opinion.