disgruntled tax payer

[mangotree]

The point of the trip wasn't to educate the kids on democrats vs. republicans. The point was to see a campaign stop. Any campaign stop. Period. It doesn't matter what party's campaign it was, the educational value came from the experience of being in the crowd, observing the candidates' strategies, witnessing the event in general.

It's a bit absurd to demand a reciprocal visit to the other party's candidate, when it's not about *what* they're saying at all. If the school would take a bus trip to a Pirates game, that's like demanding they take another one to a Phillies game the next week. And then what about the Braves fans? Before you know it, you're busing kids to every major league ballpark so nobody is offended.

And if it's only "fair" to attend both parties' campaigns, is it okay to draw the line at the two major parties? To really be fair, you'd have to take some sort of libertarian party field trip, followed by a green party field trip, and then a constitution party trip -- you know, to be fair. Heck, even throw in a visit to the local anarchy meeting.

Drop the politics here -- it was just a real-world experience and a way to make civics class a little more interesting.

[anne onimous1]

I hope you are all available when the school board decides to cut a program that it is unable to fund. Perhaps the band or the football program. We need the chatter and this will be a good thread to fall back on.

[Leep]

I take slight issue with the absurd statement..
To make the contention that it isn't about what they are saying is a bit disingenuous..I would assume that they are all capable of hearing words. So , If that is the case and they are within earshot, I believe you can safely assume that there is every possibility they will listen to what they are saying. I would bet the teacher would insist on it.
It might be slightly difficult to ignore what they are saying as I made the assumption that was the reason for going in the first place...
If all they were to see was a campaign stop, they could do that on the fly..
"If you look to your left, you will see the campaign stop." So, I guess i am a little confused by that statement...If you observe strategies and witness the candidates in action, speech seems to be an important component to it all.
Also, since the topic is politics and you can't have a candidate speak without politics being the major component of the speech, I fail to see how you can separate them...

If indeed the other parties were to show up and the opportunity arose to view them also, I agree that would be the fair thing to do..
As long as they are registered and accepted I don't see the problem.
But hey, that's just me.

Leep out:

[mangotree]

Why, just because politics are involved, is this such an issue? If the school went to the Jaffa Circus but not the Ringling Bros. Circus, would you care? If the school went to a Pirates game but not a Phillies game, would you care? What's the difference with politics? What makes political events different than non-political events with respect to enforcing a tit-for-tat fairness? People are going to make up their own minds. And merely attending an event, even if you're undecided, doesn't mean that you're going to vote democrat the rest of your life.

This is nothing more than a teacher trying to make class more interesting with a real-world, hands-on experience. It doesn't really matter which party's campaign stop was attended. And for the same reasons that a large percentage of conservative talk radio audience is liberal, nobody should have a problem with the class attending a single campaign. It can be equally damning or enlightening to listen to the same words from different perspectives.

[Leep]

I agree that it isn't that big a deal..Didn't mean for it to get so serious..
I think you have a valid point and, of course, I believe that I have one also. I don't think the two are mutually exclusive.

So, I guess we can let the matter drop and still have a decent , respectful discussion/discussions in the future..
Differing points of view are worth something, I believe. We get several points of view and we usually have to look at all the other ones and try to take away from them/it what we can.
See until the next topic catches both our interests....
Take care..
Leep:

[banksy]

Because too many people have fallen for the politically correct movement. This should never have been an issue.

[anne onimous1]

EXACTLY....

[mangotree]

High road taken. Nice.

[woodpecker]

My son went on that trip and I think it was an excellent life lesson. Students had the option to go on the trip. I have been opposed to all kinds of political hoopla in my life and it makes one well-rounded. So take advantage of rallies and political outings.....that's how you learn to make well-informed life decisions. I applaud the teachers for going the extra mile and coordinating the trip.