Philly teacher to student: Romney shirt must come off; it's like a KKK shirt.

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would the outcry be as vociferous in the case of a teacher who demanded a student recite the Pledge of Allegiance?

Doubt it.  You are dealing with people with very selective outrage.

Yeah, I have to agree with you this time. Teachers shouldn't be berating students about politics; they can talk about politics sure, but since teachers are public figures themselves, they need self-control and good manners when talking about politics.

Being a "public figure" has nothing to do with it.  People shouldn't be expressing political opinions to any children except their own.  And really they should only do that sparingly when the children are older teenagers.

This forum stands as a testament to what goes wrong when young people who don't have a clue get deeply involved in politics.  Children should be concentrating on reading, writing, science, math, and REAL history.  95% of what goes on in politics is pure nonsense.  Young people need to be focused on facts and reason... not nonsense.

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would the outcry be as vociferous in the case of a teacher who demanded a student recite the Pledge of Allegiance?

Doubt it.  You are dealing with people with very selective outrage.

Yeah, I have to agree with you this time. Teachers shouldn't be berating students about politics; they can talk about politics sure, but since teachers are public figures themselves, they need self-control and good manners when talking about politics.

Being a "public figure" has nothing to do with it.  People shouldn't be expressing political opinions to any children except their own.  And really they should only do that sparingly when the children are older teenagers.

This forum stands as a testament to what goes wrong when young people who don't have a clue get deeply involved in politics.  Children should be concentrating on reading, writing, science, math, and REAL history.  95% of what goes on in politics is pure nonsense.  Young people need to be focused on facts and reason... not nonsense.

Ever hear of "civics?"

Once again you know exactly what I mean but have decided to give us your usual retort.

In a classroom you can factually describe the position of Speaker of the House.  You can show where the duties and requirements for the office are laid out in the Constitution.  You can list several recent speakers such as Boehner, Pelosi, and Gingrich.  You can list their legislative accomplishments.  This is all factual.  It is not anyone's opinion.  And as I said when the children start getting older and are in their late teens you can even present quotes from Op Eds, books, radio shows, and television shows.  Again those are other people's opinions.  You can teach the entire class and the students would have no clue who you voted for.  You can present the information in a neutral way and then moderate.  You don't have to go in and start spouting your partisan opinion.  I would never repeat most of what I type on here in front of children.  They deserve to have a chance to live a care free childhood and concentrate on gathering the building blocks they will use once they have more life experience.

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Where are people going to school where they have to worry about contingency plans for this situation?  I've lived for decades in a country with hundreds of millions of people and this is the first time I've ever heard about something this extreme.

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High schoolers do not have strong opinions about economics or foreign policy (as opposed to social policy like abortion or gay marriage) and are therefore very willing to listen to someone they trust who does, like me. When politics is discussed in my clique, it usually comes down to me saying something and everyone agreeing. I am a rather persuasive person in real life (I recall a rather heated argument about Libya with my English teacher, where I was actually against intervention and she was for it, where I managed to convince the entire class that Gaddafi was preferable to the rebels, and f**k the mainstream media).

So you think you convinced a bunch of disinterested adolescents.

And a busy English teacher moved on from your protracted political speech.  You know Vosem sometimes when adults just keep quiet and let you finish saying what you are saying and then move on it is not because you convinced them.  Sometimes they just want to get on with their work so they humor the most talkative person.  Once that person is satisfied they have convinced everyone in the room then the adult is free to move on with their day.

I generally don't initiate political conversations at work.  And if someone else engages me I never tell them my true feelings until I've ascertained theirs and I have some level of comfort they aren't going to blab my opinion all over the place.  Even then most of stuff I say on this forum stays in my head.  Most of the time when the extremists engage me in screwball conversations at work I just furrow my brow and say things like "that's very interesting" and "I really need to look into that."  They walk away thinking they converted me to a Fox Noise acolyte and I can get on with my day.

I'm pretty sure most of the people at my work vote.  Only about three of them have come out and had ridiculous off the wall political conversations with me that made zero factual sense.  Two of the conversations were particularly disappointing.  One person I like a lot.  I really enjoy spending time with them.  Another one I have the utmost respect for as far as work.  They are awesome.  They probably all think I agree with them since I get along with them.  Anyway it keeps the peace and lets me be around people I can learn a lot from.