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23. The speaker asserts that schools should teach only academic skills, and not ethical or social values. I agree with the speaker insofar as instruction on certain moral issues is best left to parents and churches. However, in my view it is in the best interests of a democratic society for schools to teach at least the values necessary to preserve freedom and a democratic way of life, and perhaps ever) additional values that enrich and nurture a society and its members. We all have in interest in preserving our freedom and democratic way of life- At the very least, then, schools should provide instruction in the ethical and social values required for our democracy to survive―particularly the values of respect and tolerance. Respect for individual persons is a basic ethical value that requires us to acknowledge the fundamental equality of all people, a tenet of a democratic society. Tolerance of differences among individuals and their viewpoints is required to actualize many of our basic constitutional rights―including life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, and freedom of speech and religion. While respect and tolerance are the minimal values that schools should teach, the | 
