What’s Next? Wanna Help?

As I start my 20th year in Education, it’s never been more evident that our kids and our families…we’re hurting. We’re growing to distrust our government, our churches, our medical systems, our corporate structures, our educational leaders, our food sources, etc. At the same time, and I believe as a result of that trend, we’re numbing ourselves with chemicals and comfort and weapons of mass distraction which always take more than they give…and they always lead toward disfunction and dis-ease..

I don’t think there are simple solutions to these problems. I know there are! We can look at each of ’em, or all of ’em…but we can make improvements. “Making improvements ” will take more than a few little tweaks here and there. We need significant change. We need to tie our decisions and our behaviors and our goals to timeless principles. Principles that were true yesterday, that are today, and will be true a thousand years from now. They will be true everywhere, in every culture, in every belief system, all the time. We need to think inside the box: Integrity, Honesty, Perseverance, Compassion, Generosity, Gratitude.

We can push the boulder up the hill. We can get the pendulum swinging back in a healthy direction. We can take the power back. We can find and feel hope. We can find and feel peace. We can find and feel joy. We can.

Because the most recent chapters of my life have been spent as a dad, as a teacher, and a coach, I’m gonna start by addressing what I’ve seen and what I’m seeing in the worlds of education and the declining mental, physical, and spiritual health and happiness of our kids.

In education (not an opinion but a fact) we have been working ourselves to tears, for decades. But the results aren’t there to show for the countless hours spent in our classrooms and in meetings and attending professional development programs. They aren’t there to show for the countless more hours spent on weekends and evenings grading and planning and attending sporting events and theater and musical performances. The results simply aren’t there.

In terms of effectiveness and efficiencies…my opinion hasn’t changed in two decades: In spite of our heart and our care and our considerable efforts…we’ve done a mediocre job of missing the wrong target. Our curriculum is not just impractical and irrelevant…in many cases…it’s wrong or at least grossly incomplete. Remember…history is written by the victors in the same way that our school food programs knowingly serve our kids foods that cause cancer. (Yes. the World Health Organization has classified processed meats as a Group 1 human carcinogen…nearly 10 years ago.)

In terms of meeting the needs of our kids (many of those kids are now parents with kids of their own): At best…we’ve guided them away from their dreams. At worst (and I’ve seen the worst) we’ve smashed both their dreams and their spirits. We’re asking our kids to learn our impractical and irrelevant curriculum without teaching them how to simply be. How to simply…be.

We need to be teaching the importance of the balance of certainty and uncertainty in our lives. The importance of loving what you do and who you’re with. The importance of constant personal and spiritual growth, of contribution and of feelings of significance; how to get there…and beyond. That consequences are as good as they are bad! What we put in our bodies may very well be the most important decision we make. The importance of connection and community and love; how to find it and keep it and share it. We need to teach that independence is something to celebrate…but it’s merely a necessary step toward interdependence…in relationships…at work…and in a healthy society.

Until we teach those things…until our kids are whole…they’re never gonna care about the Magna Carta, about Shakespeare, about Euclid, or quantum mechanics.

We teach virtually none of that in school or in church. The irony of where we are is that digital and social media, “the end of western civilization” might just be the key to getting where we want to be; where we need to be.

Of course, I could be wrong.

Now, 30,000+ words into my next book, tentatively titled, You Did This: A Painful Look at Public Education in America, it’s time to start distilling my thoughts. I’ll share that process here, as I did with Hey Guys! It’s Dad: Some Things I Want To Share Before I No Longer Can. As ever…you’re welcome to comment, help inform, share my posts or your thoughts and opinions, dispute or disprove, deny, etc. I appreciate it all, sincerely.

Remember, love is a verb. It’s what you do.

Andy