I was a little surprised by Rav Yaakov Blau's comment in response to Rav Grumet's survey.
He said " If someone comes from a home where the parents do not think that being shomer negiah is a value, I think it's unrealistic to think that the school will convince them otherwise. The same holds true for issues of dogma. Before concluding that schools need to put effort into teaching dogma, I think a study need to be done to see if what they are teaching is in sync with the message from home."
Unless I'm misunderstanding what he's saying, he seems to be suggesting that we not teach ideas which are not in line with what our students hear at home, or at the very least that that we hesitate to do so. Isn't that the role of a teacher to try and help our students think through ideas which might challenge some of their assumptions, particularly when those ideas are essential parts of Jewish traditional thought? While I acknowledge the difficulties of moving students past preconceived notions, we need to try our best.
