Some bites, paraphrased.
"It's the government's job to take care of us."
"Extraction is a fancy word for trashing the planet."
"Only four percent of the forests are left"
"Toxic, contaminated products"
"Bigbox Mart"
"less leisure than at any time since feudal society"

Sponsored by Tides? This film is complete propaganda and the teacher should be ashamed.

Are you trying to make a point here, Dave? If so, it's lost on me.

But try this on: shouldn't the students decide if the film "is complete propaganda" or should they just take your word for it? Heaven forbid that high school students are encouraged to practice critical thinking.

Speaking of censorhip, did anyone see this comment thread at the Flathead Beacon?

http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/tester_sharpens_language_youre_either_for_jobs_or_against_jobs/8212/

"It's the government's job to take care of us". Dave, is that INDUSTRY talking???? It must be, right? Cause that's an industry slogan! Subsidized oil and gas. 1872 mining law. Subsidized logging. What industry ISN'T subsidized by the American people?? It's called corporate rape/welfare, Dave. And you know it. There isn't a logging outfit in this country that could make a profit without government handouts! BTW, Dave, just WHERE did the timber industry get their trees? A full ONE SIXTEENTH of Montana was given to the Railroads, remember? You see, Dave, you're whizzin' against the tide any more. The American people have HAD it with gettin' ripped off. There will be no more free rides for a loooong time to come. BTW, did you catch those no good bastard bankers on the TV news tonight? They smirked through their entire testimony before the senate. And then, to top it off, when confronted with the fact that they misspent the money for the bailout, they had the balls to say that "hey, we didn't ASK for the money"! I nearly shot the TV in lieu of a banker's ass! The American people are in open revolt. And that's a good thing.

There is propaganda that dave approves of and then there is propaganda that dave does not approve of.
It all depends on perspective; and, having accepted that, how can anybody--evenl dave--be in favor of any kind of censorship?

The real issue here is not censorship, it's teachers using a captive audience to ram their personal political beliefs down others throats. I have two children in high school, and I can tell you first hand, this nonsense is tolerated far too often.

There ARE proper venues for these kinds of discussions, but they should be in the proper context for the subject matter of the class such as a history or govt class.

For all the folks that are so "outraged" over this horrible "censorship", try and be honest and ask yourself this one simple question. Would you be so equally outraged if this had been a math teacher showing an "intelligent design" video?

Jim, to answer your question, heck yeah I'd be in a lather. Civics, maybe, history maybe, but its a question of venue and context and yes, the "captivity" of the audience.
Never mind that Annie has been jet setting around on her crusade, pumping the atmosphere full of useless hydrocarbon waste when she COULD have used the ecotopian social network to have "local indigenous investigators" do her on the ground work. They'd get the money for THEIR economies blah blah. Pretty hypocritical idealism if you ask me. She's killed more dinosaurs than I ever will.
And Larry, if you are looking for an example of corporate rape, you should be looking at things like the Montana Legacy Project. I'm aware that lots of lands were stolen fair and square from the American people, but I'd also temper that with consideration of the reality that federal management isn't exactly the best framework either. So buying this ground back at a grossly-inflated price is merely aiding and abetting more theft.

Jim, I'd be concerned if a math teacher showed a video on "intelligent design." I suppose if it was shown in a science class along with an evolution curriculum, it would be OK (even though the consensus in the scientific community is that intelligent design is not science).

It's funny, though, how creationists push their "intelligent design" agenda on school boards across the country and then get all up in arms when a teacher presents a video on consumerism, the environment, global warming ...

It should be noted the film "The Story of Stuff" deals with how consumerism affects the planet (including life on this planet, such as wildlife). The film was shown in a wildlife biology class, which seems apropos.

My question is this: at what point does a teacher have to offer balance against truth?

I wouldn't go as far as to say it's propaganda as much as it is completly one-sided and bias. I mentioned this in my article--I do NOT agree with a number of things they say but as Pete puts it, students should be the ones to decide.
At the initial meeting on Jan. 29 two Big Sky students stood up for Ms. Kennedy and after they had left someone had actually said that the two students were brainwashed by things like this movie.
As a young adult I was insulted. Obviously there are adults out there that have no faith in the world's youth (and possibly even THEIR OWN CHILDREN). We are fully capable of deciding what we view is propaganda, inappropriate, liberal, conservative, truth or "untruth" and we should get the chance to be exposed to and discuss these sorts of topics.
One thing I would love to point out to the parents who strongly object to the showing of "The Story of Stuff", what are your teenagers going home and watching on TV? Most likely it's no more appropriate than what they saw in school. At least in a classroom setting there is the oppurtunity for open discussion.

I am pleased that it has stirred some debate, I became aware of it and showed it to the kids. Yes there was some bias, but what I noticed its that it expanded the horizon of thought and augmented a process of critical thinking. This is what I stress in shaping young minds in our family....critical thinking! at some point they will need to make some decisions on their own and make them based on information, some great some bad. The Story of stuff is hardly anything to get worried about! (unless you are Walmart)