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Unfortunately, Ms. Holki's emotionally charged words and politically correct rhetoric fail to address the parent's true concern.  They do not have a problem with what the assignment requires of their children, but how they are asked to fulfill the requirements.

Analysis of social issues through the evaluation of current events is certainly a worthwhile educational endeavor.  Learning how to express any concerns that arise from such an evaluation is as well.  However, evaluation is a process. First, it requires a person to establish criteria upon which to base their judgment.  Next, he or she must acquire evidence and use sound reason to arrive at a decision.

With respect to Kemptville Public School, the grade 5 students are swimming against the current of this process. Not only is the decision to protest Khadr's detention made for them, it's done so right from the start.  The students are then given evidence to support this decision.  If this wasn't irresponsible enough, the teacher chose not to provide any evidence that could possibly support an opposing view.  For example, Khadr has admitted to killing an American medical officer.  The only thing being "explored" here is one side of an issue.  As a result, the students "concerns" are not a result of evaluation but of teacher-guided manufacturing.

In this case, the concerns being manufactured have a decidedly left-wing slant.  But don't be fooled into thinking that this problem can be solely attributed to teachers of that political persuasion.  There have been documented cases involving teachers from all sides of the fence using classrooms from kindergarten all the way up to post secondary institutions as a vehicle to promote their own personal views on a wide variety of issues.  For example, a conservative economics professor at the University of Texas (Austin) expected students to follow his ideology on tests.  As conservative columnist Thomas Sowell puts it, "when students must be well-practiced parrots in order to get good grades in ideologically oriented courses, the real problem is not with what they are parroting but with the fact that they are not learning to use and develop their own minds in the process of reaching their own conclusions."