Wolves are Extremely Important to the Environment and Need to be Tolerated

[lokidog]

Interesting poll, people are starting to wise up in OR and WA, we'd beter throw in CA for the survey to get the results we want....  Said one wolf lover to another. 

[Humptulips]

Agree with TF.  Teachers should keep neutral, teach how to think NOT what to think.  Teacher could have just assigned the paper asking to explain the relationship of the wolf to the environment....not plant things in the kid's mind 'extremely important' and 'need to be tolerated'.

This is what a good teacher without an agenda would have done.  As an ex-teacher, and parent, I think it is totally appropriate to approach the teacher and administration to point out that this phrasing of the assignment appears to be agenda driven and to not allow another point of view/perspective to be expressed.  And, that you would appreciate the phrasing of the writing prompt be changed to allow for all students to be able to apply critical thinking to their assignment.   

Don't put the kid in the middle.

[Dadx6]

I commend you, CedarPants, for being aware of what your child is being assigned and taught at school. Too many parents are very hands off when it comes to a child's education.

The state is taking a very strong stance when it comes to kids. It seems the state thinks it is a better parent, caregiver, and educator than the parents are. Is some cases, I might agree. However, that's not how it should be.

Public schools teach children theories as if they're facts. They indoctrinate the young to believe even the mention of a gun is bad. This is why my children are home schooled. My twins are in Running Start in order to get a free AA, but their mom and I are on top of what they're learning so we can add our input and let them choose from more than one point of view.

We teach our kids to "Eat the meat. Spit out the bones". In an assignment like that which your child was assigned will have morsels of truth that they should learn about, but offer you perspective to balance that which the state is feeding our young ones.

[jackmaster]

have little dude do a report as to why they were erradicated in the first place, and how the state will be spending millions a year to protect them even though the state has NOOOOOO money.

[hntrspud]

Whatever you decide to do, please keep us updated so we can see how it goes. Good luck trying to reason with them.

[Old Man Yager]

Have him find reports from local areas in the states where the wolves have decimated the game populations, and then ask the teacher what they think now that they have all the facts

[stevemiller]

What class does the wolf topic even belong in?Math,if one wolf can eat 20 deer or elk per year how many wolves does it take to destroy the entire deer,elk population.Bonus question,In how much time would the herds be destroyed?Science,Whos fault would it be?

[buckhorn2]

Make sure he tells them how good they are for the inviroment and they helped get rid of 15;000 elk in Yellowstone and are now helping get rid of those buffalo now people can vacation there and see nothing.

[wolfbait]

Have him find reports from local areas in the states where the wolves have decimated the game populations, and then ask the teacher what they think now that they have all the facts

http://www.pinedaleonline.com/wolf/wolfimpacts.htm

[Old Man Yager]

Have him find reports from local areas in the states where the wolves have decimated the game populations, and then ask the teacher what they think now that they have all the facts

http://www.pinedaleonline.com/wolf/wolfimpacts.htm

PERFECT

[hntrspud]

Here is a group that I follow on FB. Very good and credible info especially on the Lobo Elk herd in Idaho, or whats left.

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Lobo-Watch/213339158676640

[cvandervort]

Evolution vs creation, sex ed vs abstinence only, gun control vs gun rights, ...the only way you're going to have a teacher who teaches EXACTLY what you want your child to hear is by homeschooling. I would treat this as an opportunity to open up a discussion, not start a battle...
I like what one poster said about "wolves not being the same as they were 100 years ago": wolves ARE a part of the environment and they HAVE been an important part in the past (sucks for hunters to have them around, but before us, they were the ones culling the herds...). Anyways, that's what I would discuss with your kid: how the nature of wolves and their place I the order of things has changed over time...
My 2 cents

[TheHunt]

Since you posted on the board you are requesting opinions.  Well, so far you have gotten many.  Here is what I would do.

Have your child do some research on the topic.  Ask them what is the good and bad of wolves.  YOU and your WIFE prepare your child to have a conversation with his/her teacher.  You and your wife will need to work with your child to be able to argue respectfully with the teacher.  The discussion is to provide both sides of the topic.  If this is done respectfully I would bet the teacher would agree allowing the child to write both sides. 

If that does not work, YOU and your WIFE should go talk to the principle and let your child do the talking.   Letting your children do the talking sure teaches them a lot more then you and your wife coming with guns blazing.  You are there to intervene if the principle tries to push the kid around.  If that does not work have a meeting with the teacher and the principle. 

If the child is under the 6th grade it does not matter what grade he gets from a college app perspective.

[Marcoramius]

Agree with TF.  Teachers should keep neutral, teach how to think NOT what to think.  Teacher could have just assigned the paper asking to explain the relationship of the wolf to the environment....not plant things in the kid's mind 'extremely important' and 'need to be tolerated'.

There is no better way to teach a child how to think than to assign them a project where they have to defend a point of view that is inherently contradictory to their own. If they do the research and lay out the facts (using the game numbers before and after wolf introduction) and also be sure to spell out that currently the wolves face no threat and are able to run rampant due to the laws protecting them, then it will be very obvious to your child and will probably even strengthen their current views. Having any animal run unchecked through an environment is an inherently unstable ecosystem and will eventually lead to a collapse.

Don't shy away from an assignment like this, embrace it, because it may just help convert others when the facts are placed in front of them.

[Bob33]

I might suggest challenging the hypothesis that wolves are important by questioning what we lacked for the decades they were absent from our state.  Did our economy suffer? Did the lack of wolves contribute to global warming?  Suicide rates up?  What do we have now that we didn't 25 years ago that is attributable to wolves?