ABSTRACT
Schools, both public and private, are places where values are practiced and, like it or not, values are taught, either directly or indirectly. Cleanliness is preferred to dirtiness; promptness is preferable to procrastination; respect for the documents and symbols of our democratic system is expected. What is not clear at times is whose definition of particular values is to be advanced. For example, although most individuals would not argue against teaching the concept of “good citizenship,” one individual might believe that a good citizen is someone who questions and actively demonstrates against government actions such as the Vietnam or Gulf wars or, government’s failure to adequately provide for the homeless. Another person might contend that a good citizen, especially a child or adolescent, is someone who gives unquestioned obedience to constituted authority. Two sets of parents holding these disparate views, or any of the dozens of other views between and on either sides of these, might disagree with particular content or methodology being taught or practiced in the schools.
