Volunteering & Volunteer Students

So why is it that the community used to be part of educating children and now they don’t? Once public schools were developed it’s as if society as a whole simply dropped the matter like a game of hot potato? Yes, I know these are mostly rhetorical questions, but there important ones none the less. We all, collectively, need to be more responsible for educating our children.

Many of us understand that public schools don’t necessarily teach moral values, or at least beyond what standards are dictated by law. We take the responsibility to teach that ourselves with the support of our families and churches. What about learning in general?

Before we can expect to have “smart” kids we need to make sure they have ample learning opportunities. Let’s face facts, kids are seldom excited by a new math lesson but that’s certainly not all there is to educating. We as leaders, parents, and educators should strive to build a life long approach to learning. That’s right I listed everyone as educators. Even if teaching isn’t your day job, you no doubt have some skills that others would be interested in, pass them along. If you happen to be proficient at making things with your hands, volunteer and pass it along. If you happen to be an aspiring artist, pass it along. We need our communities to educate; it’s as simple as that.

The American economy has been moving from a products economy to a services economy for sometime now and it will surely continue. For America to thrive we need more knowledge and expertise “built in” to each generation and community involvement is about the only way this is going to happen. We can’t expect public schools to offer learning opportunities in every possible subject, but we most certainly can expect that our children will have interest in them.