Conversations with Colby

We watch a lot of news and listen to a lot of talk radio in my house.  A couple of years ago, every time I would turn on any kind of news or talk radio all my kids would start whining and having a big cow about it... When Colby started 9th grade and his Geography teacher told us at Back to School night that he would have to watch an hour of news a week and fill out a paper about current events, Colby looked at me and chuckled.  He, or course, knew that it would definitely not be a problem.  The interesting thing is that lately I have noticed a change in my kids.  Rather than grumbling about it, I find them watching and listening sometimes (even Savannah) and they will even tell Patrick about things they saw or heard during dinner.
Am I brainwashing my kids to think like me?  Some people would say yes, but I don't think so.  I think it's important for them to know what I think and believe and have as much information as possible about all issues. I also think that among all the trivial things that we place importance on in our lives, sometimes civics gets missed--it might be boring, but it's important.  These are the kids that are going to grow up and become the politicians, business owners, leaders, tax payers, and voters that will make all the decisions in the future.  And I'm not keen on leaving their education on these matters in the hands of others and "hope" that they teach them what I think they need to know.
So yesterday Colby comes home with an essay he had to read in Biology that basically talks about laizze faire environmentalism.  I have always known that teachers interject a lot of their own beliefs into their teaching, and a lot of people get very upset about it when those beliefs don't coincide with what they, themselves, believe.  This is really the first year that I have had Colby bringing home things that he is learning about that sometimes differ from what I think (not that I disagreed with the essay, but I didn't completely agree with it either). and it's interesting to talk to him about these things.  He's a very smart and thoughtful kid.
I've realized that because he knows where I stand and what I think about things, there is no reason for me to worry when teachers inject things that I don't agree with.  He then has all the information from both sides and can make up his own mind....and he's really good at it (we don't agree on everything, believe it or not).  I have never tried to teach him WHAT to think...I just want him to learn HOW to think and how to make up his own mind about stuff.  He's managed to make some good points on things that I had not considered, and he's also found his own sources of information and introduced me to them.  He's declared himself to be a Libertarian, interestingly enough.  Considering that the next time a presidential election rolls around he will be old enough to vote, it's nice to know he will be well informed and ready to take on the responsibility.  I'm very proud of him...and not just because he (mostly) agrees with me.