Child Abuse | Eastern North Carolina Now

    The ancient Greeks had a rather unique system of education. They decided that they would teach 3 subjects, the arts, gymnasium and logic. If you analyze these 3 subject areas, they equate quite nicely with the things that we are supposed to be nurturing in our students. Healthy bodies, minds and spirits. Logic would share our efforts with mathematical and scientific based education. Gymnasium would equal our attempt to nurture and train healthy bodies and the arts foster the spirit along with a faith in God.

    Well, how well have we done in nurturing the body, mind and spirit of students in the public schools over the past 60 years? To my mind, not too well. When it comes to logic, I can tell you from personal experience that the ability of students to think logically anD rationally has been in sharp decline. By subjecting students to what I call "CHECK-LIST" education we have dulled their ability to comprehend and analyze large concepts. Their ability to look at things in a Gestalt way has hindered free, creative and imaginative thinking. Students do not see the whole of concepts rather they see only bits and pieces of the whole picture. Sound bites, if you like. Not only are our children victims of this approach but our teachers as well. The bureaucrats and politicians who espouse this kind of education should hit the road.

    The sexualization of the average contemporary student is now common practice in too many American public schools. From sex-ed to pornography in our school libraries to genderism to exposure to all kinds of evil and abhorrent behaviors, students are being dragged down into the gutter where the purveyors of this stuff reside. Between the education bureaucrats, politicians, education lobbyists, the teachers unions and the entertainment industry a kid hasn't got a chance. Sorry kid, you are low man on the totem pole.

    Since the excommunication of Christianity and the arts from the public school curriculum, at the hands of liberal progressives, the damage to our culture and society are apparent. We have too many young people(?) whose base instincts have been on display They lack conscience, self-discipline and have NO self-respect let alone respect for others. Beauty and elegance are not acknowledged by these people and a respect for the unborn and young children is a bygone virtue. We have kicked what are the only acknowledged benefits to the spirit to the roadside. Dance, music, theater and the visual arts have taken it on the chin. These are a means of healthy self-expression that teach kids how to deal with abstractions. They put students in touch with genius and the connection between the rational and emotional is accomplished. This right brain, left brain connection has proven to raise the academic abilities of students dramatically.

    It is not an accident that MIT has a concert as well as a Jazz band. It is not an accident that the Texas Medical Center has a full orchestra staffed by doctors, nurses and other health professional. It is no accident that Albert Einstein seriously considered a career as a Concert Violinist. It is no accident that South American children living in abject poverty fashion musical instruments from landfill junk and form musical ensembles. Art museums are no accident nor are the artists whose works fill their halls. The nurturing of the body through dance with the skill and beauty displayed is no accident. What ever happened to "The Class Play" or "The School Musical"? All of these endeavors put students in touch with the genius and thinking of the past and present. Most of all they require a search for perfection, self-discipline, and respect for the artistic product and dedication to something other than SELF.

    The technocrats and haters in our culture have taken us down the wrong road and we don't have a lot of time to make a major correction.

Follow the Yellow Arrow
    John W. LaCava  •  Bath, NC  •  June 25, 2022