1. •  I wondered why people were afraid of a very honest person like me who was brazenly honest in my teens until I had my youngest daughter confronting me starting at age 12 or 13. Then I understood how difficult it can actually be listening to new ideas that you might not want to hear. However, from my point of view their opinions might be equally as valuable as yours or mine (without the 30 to 40 to 50 years of life experience thrown in). Now my daughter is 21 and is more polite but still just as direct. It is really difficult to hear opinions you might not agree with. But, often I forced myself to listen anyway. Because after all, our children are the future and if we want to be in their lives we better learn to listen to them because they just might not change their minds over time from whatever they are saying now!

      

     Why are we so afraid of teenagers' opinions?

     KITV Honolulu21 hours ago
     (CNN) -- Why are we so afraid of teenagers' opinions? This year, high schools across the country have censored students' words ...

2.  begin quote from:

   Why are we so afraid of teenagers' opinions? (opinion) - CNN.com

   www.cnn.com/2017/06/20/opinions/valedictorian-gets-mic-cut-m...

   20 hours ago ... A high school administrator in Pennsylvania cut the mic to valedictorian's speech when the teen criticized the school's administration, teaching ... 

   Why are we so afraid of teenagers' opinions?

   By David L. Marcus

   Updated 1:51 PM ET, Wed June 21, 2017

   

   
   

   Valedictorian's mic cut after he bashes school 00:51

   Story highlights

   • Pennsylvania high school administrator cuts mic on valedictorian when the teen criticizes school administration
   • Dave Marcus: Colleges want articulate students who digest and synthesize facts; high school officials should not muzzle them

   David L. Marcus has been a high school teacher and an independent educational consultant. His most recent book is "Acceptance: A Legendary Guidance Counselor Helps Seven Kids Find the Right Colleges -- And Find Themselves" (Penguin Books). The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

   (CNN)Why are we so afraid of teenagers' opinions?

   This year, high schools across the country have censored students' words in yearbooks, newspapers and classrooms. The latest crackdown came last week when a valedictorian in suburban Pennsylvania criticized the "authoritative nature" of administrators -- and one of those administrators cut off his microphone and ended his graduation speech.

   

   David Marcus

   We're seeing an odd confluence of trends: More and more, students are able to complain about schools, expose wrongdoing and rate teachers -- often anonymously -- on social media. Yet schools seem uneasy about hearing them.

   The Student Press Law Center, a nonprofit group in Washington that advocates for the First Amendment rights of student journalists, has gathered reports of principals and teachers going after everything from news articles to artworks. While the group does not keep year-to-year statistics, director Frank LoMonte says the Internet, and Google in particular, have jolted school leaders.

   "The types of expression that might have been tolerated a few years ago are of greater concern now because of their potential reach and lifespan online," he told me.

   As a parent who has raised two teens and as someone who spent time as a teacher, I've exhorted kids to speak up and speak out -- so long as they don't denigrate others and don't incite violence. I don't always like what I hear, and I've refereed several classroom discussions that became heated as students aired different perspectives.

   

   School bans "racially divisive" cartoon 06:16

   In the end, though, they agreed that they learned more from each others' differences than from cocooning themselves with like-minded peers. Those lessons are especially important in a time when even many adults cannot distinguish between facts and falsehoods.

   I spent years as a college admissions coach, helping teens consider campuses and think about their applications. I know that the best colleges, including enormous state schools as well as smaller private ones that most of us have never heard of, want students who read, digest facts, synthesize materials, and then articulate their views.

   One student I worked with wrote a wonderful essay about dinner table debates in her family, headed by a Democratic father and a Republican mother. Yes, the student got into her top choices of colleges (and yes, the parents stayed married). I have a strong sense from talking to admissions officers that they admire applicants who make themselves open to a range of opinions.

   

   Principal quits after students' probe 01:01

   I wish administrators at high schools felt such confidence. Consider the case of Pennsylvania's silenced valedictorian: Peter Butera, 18, had just told his audience at Wyoming Area High School that the "authoritative nature" of "a few" administrators and school members "prevents students from developing as true leaders."

   Butera later said the principal told him to stop. Butera, who is heading to Villanova University, got a standing ovation.

   "When a public school tells a student not to disclose information or express a heartfelt opinion solely because it will 'make us look bad,' it unteaches a lifetime of civics education," LoMonte told me.

   Exactly. And in an era when "red" and "blue" citizens alike say the government is unresponsive, we'd do well by preparing tomorrow's voters to b