Rep. Thomas Shields should get an “A” for his involvement in Mike Simpson’s school project about writing a letter to his legislator about physician-assisted suicide.

Rep. Shields did what the teacher should have done. He made Mike think. Mike said it himself, he only expected a form letter. Instead, what he got was a vehicle that stirred controversy and a thought process different than his.

A good teacher would recognize this.

At a time when students graduate from high school barely able to read or write, or make change at the local Wal-Mart without a cash register, Rep. Shields presented Mike with a challenge to his convictions and a different way of thinking.

Why should we force the responsibility of ending a life on doctors? Why not legislators, or heaven forbid, ourselves.

It’s too bad that Ms. Candy Gleason did not recognize an opportunity to teach and make her students think and maybe, change their convictions.

If my daughter had gotten a response like that from Rep. Shields, I would have called and thanked him for his honesty and for not just sending a form letter.

Ms. Gleason seems more concerned about not upsetting her students than making them learn a new and different way of thinking.

I guess schools have changed a lot since I have been there. I suppose making one think and challenging one’s convictions are not part of the curriculum.

Too bad. They should be.

Kevin Gimpel, Bowdoin