As the present, accelerating shake up in education occurs, our culture and each of our families have a real opportunity. We can rethink what responsibility we have concerning preparing our children for their future. Few get to think about these things—we are blessed. Presently, there is a lot of tension and uncertainty about this. This multifaceted problem should give us pause, but in once sense they are inevitable. Our educational system (or the part of it run by the government) has become economically unsustainable—like many other parts of government. Our public schools—like many other parts of our national life—have been philosophically unsustainable for a long time. We desire children to have a strong moral foundation. We expect them to work hard. We want them to love one another. Yet, we have eroded constantly the faith that underlies all of these things. Now, we do so officially. We want the car to run after we drain the gasoline from the tank. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘parenting’
Education and the Future
Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011Drug Use Down….Maybe?!!?
Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010You might have seen the encouraging headline in the paper a few days ago: “Drug Use Down at Manheim Township”. Here is a link to the entire story and to the graph behind it:
Drug Use Down at Manheim Township article
Seeing it, initially, I was encouraged. The story, however, (rightly) spends a lot of it time poking holes in the data. (more…)
A Subprime Culture!
Monday, September 20th, 2010A faithful reader of the blog, sent me this article from Thomas Freidman. It brilliantly points out the “motivation deficit” in American students and the “sacrifice deficit” in American culture. It is a sad article (I have copied it completely for you below). It misses one crucial element. It misses the very heart of the American motivation for sacrifice. It misses Christ. His sacrifice was the example that has permeated past American sacrifices—from the Founding to the sacrifices during the Depresssion. Without Him, working hard and making sacrifices makes no sense (or makes sense only in the most crass selfish terms). I want this article, however, to be an encouragement to our parents at Veritas. You are making sacrifices to give your kids an exceptional education. Know that you are doing what our forefathers did consistently in the past. You stand with that great cloud of witnesses. I believe that in future days your children will rise up and bless you for the sacrifices you are making on their behalf—both at school and in life. Here is the article: (more…)
The Issue
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010At present, THE issue of our day politically has been or is being crystallized in places like Greece. THE question we face is whether we will reduce the promises and entitlement that we presently have or whether we will cling to our entitlements and be content to incessantly steal from each other. The choices are clear—embrace reality or cling to the fantasy. If we do not change our ways and even come to terms with the fact that we have made promises that we obviously cannot keep, we will perish as a free people (maybe we already have). This is not a prophetic utterance—any simple glance at a rudimentary spreadsheet will confirm the fact that we have embraced a view of life that is fantasy. The silver lining has now worn off the clouds.
One Great Thought After Another
Monday, March 8th, 2010Usually it takes me about 10 minutes to read the paper. Today, it took almost any hour. So much good stuff! The editorial pages were excellent. The best was George Will’s op-ed on Self Esteem warning parents of the danger of praising children for doing nothing. If you are a parent, stop and read this: (more…)
