Are we afraid of the truth?

Today I. American History we had an amazing discussion from my bellringer. We are finishing up WWII and starting the Cold War. When the students came in the room I had on the board the saying
Are we afraid of the truth?
As always I let it sit with them while they yelled out their answers. Then came the discussing. This discussion became one of those great discussing days that last the whole hour and when the bell rings the students and I are shocked that the hour has passed.
It was amazing to have them asking questions of each other and of me. It was great to have the chance to challenge their thoughts and have them challenge each other.
The students brought up many examples from their personal lives where are you they wouldn't want to know the truth. We discussed these topics. Then we took it a step farther into history and government. We discussed how transparent the government should be. There were a variety of responses to this which was perfect.

Then I brought up the drones and patriot act. Since my students didn't really know about these they were shocked. It led to a great discussion about why they don't know and one of my bright students brought up that they all know what the Harlem Shake is, but they don't know about drone attacks. We talked about the google announcement that the Feds can get access to google search records, and I pulled up my google history. This led to a great discussion about digital citizenship.

Overall I was so proud of their discussion and it reaffirmed my belief that students can be mature enough for these types of discussions and they need chances to be challenged and to challenge others.