I came across an excellent opinion piece in the Epoch Times by Mollie Engelhart titled The Lessons Missing From Modern Education. The title is self-explanatory. My writing is intended to have you apply some of the points within the piece TO our educational system AND to your family.
The article lists 10 points as “……the lessons I wish every child learned before graduating elementary school.” The first nine are Emotional Responsibility, Delayed Gratification, Follow Through, Understand Money and Build Assets, Listen to Your Body, Every School Should Have a Chicken Coop and a Garden, Think Critically About Information, Learn to Negotiate and Resolve Conflict and Understand Fertility. When looked at in the aggregate, they add up to Number 10, Learn Self-Governance.
No matter where you get it from, isn’t “Self-Governance,” the ability to independently live your life, what “Education” is (or should be) all about? If you do not achieve “Self-Governance,” then what? Are you destined to be dependent on someone else or everyone else? I will grant you that we will always have people who ARE dependent on others. And I will grant you that we, as a society, will take care of them. But shouldn’t it be the goal of a healthy society to keep the number of dependent people to a minimum? And isn’t the best way to minimize dependence to teach Self-Governance?
It is self-evident that since the beginning of life itself, all species have been genetically implanted with the instincts to survive. Human parents have been implanted with the ability to teach their offspring the skills needed to survive and prosper. But are these skills being transferred to children at the rate needed for our society to grow? That’s a fair question and one that should be both asked and answered.
The article concludes with “The purpose of education is not simply to create knowledgeable people—it is to create capable ones.” Is the education of your children and grandchildren going to produce “capable” members of society? The growing movement to home schooling, charter schools and school choice seems to indicate otherwise. Why is that? This is a question you should be asking of every elected official from your local school board right up to the Governor’s office. AND MAKE SURE THAT THEY ANSWER YOU. Nothing is more critical to our survival as a Nation.
Jack
Written June 17, 2026
H.O.T. Jack’s observations and opinions are shared with you by, but not edited by, H.O.T. Government and so do not necessarily reflect the policies or opinions of H.O.T. Government.
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