What’s Keeping Our Kids From Learning

By Rosemary Santillo • October 18th, 2010

An expo for bloggers is being held in Las Vegas this week, BlogWorld Expo. As many of you know, blogging has become a passion of mine. It is a great way for me to share coaching, business consulting and mind body information with those interested.

I belong to a group of bloggers who have decided that we in the group should all blog about a common subject of importance this week to bring attention to a much discussed topic and possibly help bring about change. The topic is Education and the education system in the United States.

When I first heard the subject, I thought, well I don’t have kids, haven’t had any interaction with school systems, so how credible can I be. Then as I began to think about the youth of today and the problems that we face “as a country”, I decided that yes, I do have something to say. I have decided to address obstacles to our children’s education.

We are programmed in our formidable years by our experiences and our environment. Our DNA has a part in how we “turn out”, but much of the end product as adults depends on what we experience and the environment around us while growing up.

When we look at what our children are exposed to today, and are honest with ourselves, we realize that much of what they are being programmed with are violent video games, TV programs, movies and music videos. It is no wonder we are seeing violence in schools and bullying. Reality programs glamorizing teen pregnancy, cage fighting, Jersey Shore, with all the vulgar language and dysfunctional characters, is what we allow these young minds to take in. Does this represent the values and standards that we should instill in our children? Should the Kardashian family be our ideal? I don’t think so!

Texting has become an obsession with all, not only young adults. What do we have to say that is so urgent that we need this lifeline to others? How is it that we cannot live without our cell phones? Have we all become so brainwashed/programmed that we won’t leave our homes without our phones?

Facebook, Twitter, My Space, YouTube are the social outlets for our children. What happened to face-to-face personal contact? The children of today are not developing the skills needed to go out in the world and interact successfully. Psychologists tell us that this is a new addiction. Our children are addicted to texting, social networking and computer games. Frightening thought!

So where does education fit into all of this? It certainly takes a back seat for many young people. We need to stand up for responsible programming on TV, movies that are less violent and teach our kids to contribute to the whole, refuse to support cable programming that doesn’t measure up to what we want our children to watch. Refuse to buy violent games and videos. Take a stand and start at home! Yes, it could be considered tough love, but your kids are worth it.

I am fortunate enough to be a host family for a Chinese student from Davidson College. I see in him values and standards that are lacking in many Americans. What is important to him is his education and working hard to be the best. He definitely goes the extra mile in everything he does. He doesn’t have a TV, just got a cell phone in his second year here in the US, but doesn’t use it, doesn’t have time for Facebook, doesn’t drink, is very social without the social networking. He is very focused on succeeding and knows these other distractions are a waste of time. He gives me hope for young people. We just need to get back to basics. Identify your values and standards and those that you want instilled in your children and stick to your guns! I appreciate your feedback www.coachingmindbodyandspirit.com.

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