As parents we spend much time raising children, teaching them right from wrong and constantly saving them from harm. But students choosing to bring in Michael Moore are something else.

You would think the Utah Valley State College (UVSC) student leaders would know how to make right choices. And what does that say about the students that elected them in the first place? Didn't they learn better from us adults?

These students listened and watched how their parents and other adults conducted their lives in the community. Given all that time, you would think they would apply all those good lessons they learned. And you know what? They did!

I suspect at the dinner table talk, or in their parents' actions, the now-college students learned about fairness, standing up for beliefs, acceptance and respect of others, about freedom of speech, democracy and the individual's ability to make the right choices. So, we should not be surprised that they are in a "learning environment" practicing what their parents taught them.

The polarization over the students paying Michael Moore, producer of "Fahrenheit 9/11," to come speak at UVSC provides a rare opportunity to show our children — even our 7- and 8-year-olds — how our community can have different views about life, yet stick together because of the common values we cherish.

As adults, our challenge is to show, by example, how to practice the values we taught them that promote the common good. Will we allow them to make their own decisions, or will we punish them for making different choices than those we would have made? Will we threaten to withhold their allowance, or let them learn from the consequences of their decisions — positive and negative.

Will we applaud them for doing what has made America strong — that of airing differing views — or do we impose our belief that we must protect them from hearing opposing views? Are we telling them they are not old enough to be discerning adults, like us, even though they are old enough to die for their country?

The value of an education is to teach students how to live and thrive in society. We created our higher-education institutions as sanctuaries so students would be free to learn the skills needed to become discerning and problem-solving citizens.

The hard lesson we have learned as adults is that the price of growth is failure. Where would our children be if we didn't let them fail and grow from those failures?

The problem with youths is that they are idealists. They really believe what they learned about democracy, fairness, equality, and as Voltaire said, "I may not agree with what you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it."