KIDS: Teach by example

There are three distinct areas of concern in a child’s life: the home, the community and the school. Educators should not be burdened with addressing all of these; they certainly have enough to do without taking on every facet of concern in a child’s life. Parents need to be responsible for their children’s home life. If their parenting is so poor as to cause grievous harm to their children, we need to think about removing children from such homes.

In Coeur d’Alene, community concerns are far fewer and less severe than in places like Chicago, Baltimore, Dallas, and other large cities. Still there are issues with drugs and alcohol, but these are the responsibility of our policing agencies. It should be enough that the schools teach students to beware of such temptations.

I have come to believe that the larger problem is a breakdown at the highest levels within our society. On television and online, children see what appears, even to many adults, as a complete breakdown of our social system. It often appears that there are no rules of conduct when some citizens are seen as being above the law, when violent people win and peaceful people lose, when it is all too obvious that might makes right, when children are afraid to say what they feel is true, right and moral, for fear of being verbally and/or physically attacked.

If we want to help our children navigate the slings and arrows of life, we must first show them examples of proper conduct practiced by those who administer our society. This would be the bedrock upon which our children could rely; rules of conduct and standards of behavior that would provide children with the moral clarity needed to feel secure and confident within themselves.

STEVE NOVAK

Coeur d’Alene