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Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Editorial/Position Statement
For the first time in our history, there are
clear signals that the next generation of Americans can expect a lower standard
of living than their parents. This
sobering reality offers dual opportunities for hand wringing or action toward something
better. One potential can be found in
addressing our culture’s increasing failure to build solid bridges for those
transitioning from adolescence to adulthood.
A bridge to a future of hope can come in many
forms. A good education, illusive
through a 30% national dropout rate and other failings in our public education
system, stands as a crucial twenty first century bridge. More money and bureaucratic overlay will not
fix our education problems – it is in the relationship between students and
teachers and parents that success will be lost or found.
An often-overlooked link to a future comes in
the form of physical labor, summer jobs, and afterschool work that historically
jump-started generations to a better life. American’s today would rather turn over these
opportunities to illegal immigrants and leave our children to perfecting their life
in cyberspace. An isolated young person,
like a goldfish in a small bowl, is artificially restricted in reaching their
potentials. In previous generations teens
carried a significant share of the nation’s manual workload, and we were all
the better for it.
There was once a widespread societal belief that
contributing to your country was a good thing.
National service – a theme that bloomed under the idealism of the
sixties, broke apart upon the rocks of Vietnam.
The Peace Corp and its domestic partner, Vista, were versions of
“peaceful” national service, while the military draft offered the challenging mission
of protecting America. This bridge,
through the skills, identity, and success models learned in service, uplifted
the greater majority of those who participated.
We have not served our children by sidestepping the reality that, in a
free country, responsibility comes with the opportunities.
We are especially neglectful in bridging our
black children to a better place. Those
who milk the race card for personal or political advantage have most of us
afraid to speak up. In the interim, destructive
cultural influences, disintegration of the family structure, and the corruption
of drug and thug influences are making shooting stars out of too many minority
children. It is a personal belief that
looking away from the force harming black children in today’s America is the
ultimate form of racism. The importance
of a bridge to a better tomorrow has no color distinctions.
Then there is God. America today is a country of spiritual
conflict. We have confused freedom of
religion with freedom from religion and allowed the loud voices of a few to dominate
the many. Christmas parades have become
“holiday parades” in spite of the fact that most of us still identify ourselves
as Christians. We are failing to instill
in many of our children a loving moral and spiritual foundation that offers a
far stronger bridge than material and pleasure pursuits can ever provide.
It remains that the relationship between new
generations and their parents and mentors holds mutual responsibility. Our children need guidance on engaging life
with an eye on growth, contribution, and things beyond just feeling good. Those of us with mileage must recognize that
the inexperienced need bridges to cross their rivers just as we once did.
Helen Keller, in spite of the limitations of
being deaf and blind, courageously referenced life as “a bold adventure or
nothing at all”. In America today we
have allowed forces to kick the steps out of the ladder of success supporting
that bold adventure. The result is a
climb of intimidation that exceeds the reach of many of our children. Without our active interventions, the
American Dream can become a canyon where once stood a bridge to hope.
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