Teaching The Children

I really don't have any comment about <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/04/13/news/state/80-council.txt">this</a> story but it talks about a couple of things that I wanted to share. Meth and the Office of Public Instruction (OPI) headed by Linda McCulloch.<br />n<br />nMy oldest, who is in public school, is right now in the OPI mandated meth instruction part of her health class. I assumed this was to teach them the harm meth can cause. Silly me there was much more to it. The very first thing they were taught is how to identify meth, how to judge it's quality by looking at it, the ingredients to cook it and how to cook it. Just the other day I had to explain to my daughter that the "benefits" of meth that the program was touting are not actual "benefits" but just perceived benefits that a user feels. I think she understood the difference but I am not real sure. It sounds a lot more like the OPI sponsored program is teaching how to use meth than trying to discourage it. <br />n<br />nThe teacher is doing everything she can to teach what is appropriate in this class but she said she had to teach the other stuff because the State mandates it. Aren't government mandates wonderful things.<br />n<br />n<br />n<b>It is not government's job to mandate responsibility on our behalf. We have the intelligence and good sense to make wise consumption choices for ourselves and our children. It is up to us to do what is best for our health and our children's health. Michael Crapo</b>