One thing everyone can agree on is that when he left for Yemen, he was an adult and could/should be able to make up his own mind.
I would also tend to agree that the U.S. educational system seems to be intent on filling its pupils' minds with mush and making sure they don't even have the information they could use to make informed decisions. The statistics of kids who don't know squat about (fill in the historical period or person) are shocking. Want to bet about how many high school - hell, even college - graduates know there was a Buchanan (not Pat) who was president? Or, no, let's not even go that far. I wonder how many students can get through grade school and college without even a mention of James Buchanan.