Chris,
You make some interesting points. Do you have kids in school at this time?
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The public school system cannot teach eternal values in a secular environment. From a young age, children are not taught to believe in themselves, they are taught to work hard, go to school, go to college, and for what?
There is separation of church and state. Schools aren't supposed to teach eternal values. This is what church does at least from a traditional POV. It is parents who are supposed to teach their kids to believe in themselves. But many parents are more interested in doing their own thing and therefore expect schools to teach their kids everything.
I have had several teachers in my college career (mostly in the humanities) teach about the value of the individual. I have also had teachers give training relevant to finding a job or career relevant to one's major.
In 2004, I did some required classroom observation for some classes I was taking as an education major. I also have some previous experience as a teacher's aide working in a middle school during the 1996-7 school year. At that time, I was assigned to various teachers from fourth to seventh grade. Being a teacher can be an extremely difficult job in the classrooms of today.
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The public school system has unwittingly made it acceptable to believe that the only goals in life worth striving for are for the sake of material enjoyment.
It isn't just the public school system nor is it "unwitting." It has been done intentionally.
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The state concerns itself with standards: You must know this, you have to know that, you must be able to do this. It ignores the unique interests and talents of each child.
Actually, the purpose of these standards is to gauge the talents, skills, and abilities of each child in order to better serve employer interests. Students who excel will find doors opened for them by grants and scholarships and such. Students who don't---won't.
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It attempts to make them merely productive with no regard to happiness. Happiness, the secular society teaches, is achieved from being successful.
Agreed, but most people derive happiness from being of service. There are of course many kinds of service. Service to the state, the church, service to one's employer. Service to a cause like spreading the teachings of the Urantia Book. Perhaps service to self in pursuit of materialistic gain. Service to the Father by increasing the common good.
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But worst of all perhaps, we give our children to a school system where nobody but a few special teachers give them any real hope.
I have been privileged to work with and observe a few teachers who do indeed give students real hope. As you might realize, these teachers have great success in their classrooms because they teach kids to believe in themselves.
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They need to know that somebody believes in them, and that regardless of what they achieve in life, success does not come from the amount of money in your wallet but how you treat others--and yourself.
A laudable goal to be sure. But this doesn't pay the bills does it?
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It’s not enough for the state to say that values should be taught in the home; too many homes are devoid of values, filled with economic, social, and moral problems, dysfunctional, and too much stress and responsibility is placed on children.
I have met many parents who know their home has economic problems. I have yet to meet a parent who believes their own home is dysfunctional, devoid of values, or filled with social or moral problems. Compared to the agrarian society of a hundred years ago where children were considered to be an economic asset and expected to help with farm chores, children of today are considered an economic liability and have little stress or responsibility as compared to kids of one hundred years ago. Kids of today have more rights and child advocacy groups. Kids of today have more relative freedom. More toys, clothes, and other material things which are given to them by their parents. Kids of today expect to be paid for doing household chores.
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...and too much stress and responsibility is placed on children. The solution that the public school system proposes: more homework and a bigger budget.
Consider the example of Iris and her (eighth grade?) son. Eighth grade is probably the most difficult to teach. She forced him to do more work in the form of a book report. I may be jumping to conclusions, but it is quite likely he resented her interference as rebellious adolescents usually do. It is possible that he did not do his best work in order to express his resentment. Instead of teaching the golden rule, she taught her son the way to get what you want is to become angry and demanding. But she did "rescue" her son by demonstrating that she cared.
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Most taboo of all are discussions of religion.
Religion can be discussed in school just not during class (unless the class is about religion).
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How can a teenager learn to love and respect his fellow man when he cannot understand their deepest beliefs? How can tolerance be spread when people are increasingly isolated from their peers because the standards forbid it?
Volunteering for community service provides an opportunity to learn about love, respect, tolerance, and lifting the load together.
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I think many of the value problems in America today are caused because people are losing their grasp on their culture and are not able to understand the culture of their fellows. Only a complete restructuring of our educational system can reverse this trend of apathy.
It is because people don't care that they lose their grasp on many things. The change must come from within. The educational system can't reverse this trend of apathy but caring people (like your wood shop teacher) can.
Randy