From Dr. Jane's Notebook

Why Pay Attention to Other People's Children?

A friend of mine recently confided that because she no longer has school-aged children, she has no interest in reading my columns that pertain to children and teenagers. As she explained to me, "people tend to be interested in the subject of children depending on whether their nest is empty or full". I could not help but ask her whether she had supported or voted against the last school referendum. I have been increasingly upset about the ramifications of that defeat, as I see the schools and classrooms struggle with their lack of resources to grow into better learning environments. Again my friend reiterated, "let's face it, Jane, if we're not talking about my kids, I'm not that interested".

Here are a few thoughts of mine on this matter.

The average high school graduate needs to be an intelligent citizen. Personally, I want the next generation of high school graduates to be smart. Afterall, we will be sharing the American vote with them. We will be occupying the same environment, living in the same neighborhoods, and depending on them for goods and services. The next generation of high school graduates will include our police officers, firemen, politicians, medical personnel, etc. We all need for them to be smart and well-educated.
We can't expect colleges to make up for shortcomings in our education system. College is optional; secondary school is not. Most of our children will complete high school; not all will go to college. We must prepare young adults to live in our society and function responsibly whether or not they go on to college. Their high school education should prepare them to make a meaningful contribution to our society and environment because soon, we will sharing the planet not only with them, but with their children.
By supporting our schools, we are role modelling altruism. High school graduates will be working in all segments of society. It is important that they have healthy, prosocial attitudes and have community interest. Otherwise, they may approach life with a "me first" anti-social attitude, believing that no one has cared about them, why should they care about others.
Education must keep up with our changing technology. If we want kids to know how to work computers, and we want them to have experience before we hire them, we must educate them for the workplace. Few businesses want to train new employees, but training must be obtained somewhere! Most jobs these days require more training than intuition. Our kids must know how to read, write, use computers, and have current knowledge.

Personally, I am an ardent advocate of college and graduate education, but realistically, not all of our kids will get that extra education. If we do not teach them to appreciate the arts and sciences in high school, that appreciation may never develop.

Not long ago, another friend of mine was sick and in the hospital. As she described it, she was wired from head to toe with computerized monitoring devices. This gave her a great sense of security. However, it was the weekend and the hospital was a little short-staffed. It was not until her electronic hook-ups began to fail that she discovered how few staff members knew anything about the machines which were "recording" her life signs.

Each of us depends on others. As you look around at the people who are managing stores, building streets, repairing electrical euiqpment, installing your telephone, and managing your health, you see the products of our local educational systems. We need for each one of them to be intelligent and educated.

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Last Updated December 26, 1998 by Gary M. Grandon, Ph.D.