What part of the next generation shall we save?

To save a child;

To have them grow into adults who are happy and
productive members of their communities.

To have them grow into good citizens, caring and fair,
respectful and responsible, and trustworthy.

Communities once saved children. Schools taught them how
to perform on Standards Based Assessments, and the
community rounded them out; parents, extended families,
churches, scouting, sports, ..., all played a part in creating an
ethic in children that would serve them as adults.

Today there is left, only the schools.

More kids than ever have no engaged parents, no church,
no sports, ... The acculturation of an entire generation of
children has been turned over to music, movies and other
children.

One could argue that schools have no business raising kids.

It could be argued that communities should step up to their
responsibilities in raising the next generation of children into
the next generation of adults. But there is no reason to believe
that they will.

The simple truth is that, you cannot make parents who do not
care, into parents who do. You cannot make parents who are
disengaged for whatever reason, into parents who are. You
can not make them willing to make the substantial sacrifices
that must be made in order to ensure their children's success.


The simple truth is that, if schools don't pick up the slack,
no one will. Only part of the next generation will be equipped
with the skill set and knowledge, to be happy and productive adults.


Theodore Roosevelt wrote;

"To educate in the mind, and not in the morals,
is to create a menace to society."

And those are the ones who graduate. The ones who don't,
stand a very real chance of amounting to nothing more than
a drain on society, at best.

By all means, let's try to get the community to reengage in
raising their children. Let's give them all of the direction and
assistance that we can.

Let's just not put all of our eggs in that one basket.