Can a person be taught not to hate, taught to value others, taught to live with integrity? A person can be taught to do just about anything but in reflecting on Newtown, Connecticut and Sandy Hook Elementary, I'm reduced back to the minimum of what it means to be human and how to teach that.
Suddenly there's ample discussion of legislation because law is where we go when we're so disturbed, so afraid that we fear character development is too methodical. It takes too long to teach a person to value truth, introspection, responsibility, respect, etc. It's easier to turn all attention toward mandating which firearms are acceptable in civil society. That's not to say this is futile discourse but yo, there's still the reality of evil tendencies being a result of some other deficit. It seems like evil is always relegated to the realm of insanity. If someone shoots, maims, runs over another human being, they must be crazy. I submit thought that decay in any community is always possible even among the sane and coherent. Fundamentally, you don't have to be inherently evil to act in heinous ways. All you need to be is...desperate without the virtue of tenacity and resolve.
A person who hasn't had a mentor, hasn't been coached through adversity to find the resilience that resides inside them, will resort to horrific ploys to find significance. The problem is that the proof of this theory is almost completely anecdotal - based on accounts of experiences and interactions we've all had with people who throw temper tantrums. Today's meltdown could result in a loss-of-life in 10-15 years. That's our reality. So what's the solution?
Respect the interior life. Understand that no matter your religious leanings, we are more than body and mind. We have a spirit that entails emotional health. We can't thrive in duplicity and hypocrisy. Think back. How much of your formal education was devoted to development of your personhood? Who addressed your character outside of citing you for cheating (if you ever even got caught). How many hours did you spend studying for Standardized tests, cramming for finals, writing as much as you could on 4x6 index cards because the professor granted you a legal cheat sheet? What about curriculum invites students to truly explore the meaning of their lives, their purposes/destinies beyond income and their role in the lives of others? Since we like rules so much, why don't we make character development a truer school & parental partnership that is as intentional as California Standardized Test preparation. We have an Academic Performance Index but no metric for the social development of students. Seem awkward?
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