Well, because there's a bad method of doing something doesn't mean that there are no good methods, so I don't think your example is a refutation. I'm not fond in general of using children as political props, even if that helps them to absorb those political ideas; but I don't see that as analagous to presenting a normative situation in casual conversation.

However, on the broader point, it is worth thinking about. I assume by "drawing your own conclusions", you mean each person independently arriving at the truth, rather than each person arriving at a unique set of conclusions, because the latter strikes me as more postmodernism than rationality.

Upon reflection, I'll say that children as children I don't expect to be rational enough to draw their own conclusions, but as they get more so I do expect them to question my conclusions that I try to impart, and then either to convince me I am wrong or vice versa. I'd rather we both be right than both be independent, but I don't want them to be unquestioning of imparted 'knowledge' either. Does that make sense?