there is nothing neutral about torture or whether earth is 5000 years old or whether black people or women should have right to vote or whether the benefits of slavery should be taught along with negative aspects of slavery or whether the positive aspects of sending Jews to ovens should be taught along side of negative aspects.
There are too many false equivalencies in this world. Not every evil deserves the amnesty implied by neutrality.
Letting kids decide for themselves whether these policies are good or bad is foolish. They are children. Some still believe in Santa Claus.
There are very good lessons in history that need to be taught, not just names, places and dates.
==============
Cruel and unusual punishment is a phrase describing criminal punishment which is considered unacceptable due to the suffering or humiliation it inflicts on the condemned person. These exact words were first used in the English Bill of Rights in 1689, and later were also adopted by the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1787) and British Slavery Amelioration Act (1798).
Very similar words ('No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment') appear in Article Five of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (A/RES/217, December 10, 1948). The right, under a different formulation ('No one shall be subjected to [...] inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.') is found in Article Three of the European Convention on Human Rights (1950). The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982) also contains this fundamental right in section 12 and it is to be found again in Article Four (quoting the European Convention verbatim) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2000). It is also found in Article 16 of the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and in Article 40 of the Constitution of Poland.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruel_and_unusual_punishment
= new reply since forum marked as read