I am definitely biased, but I think the includes are important and are almost part of the lesson. Teach someone how to write their own containers and classes, then show them that there is a library they can easily access that does a much better job than they ever will and just how easy it is to use.

And while there are better languages from an educational standpoint, having something that is usable/"real" is quite valuable.

But I definitely approach things from a more practical/industry oriented perspective. so grain of salt.