"Next Generation of Parents Causes Concern" is the title of an Associated Press article I read in the paper today. The concern? A generation of mechanically incompetent nincompoops. More importantly this article is indicative of a more pervasive problem. Namely, morally incompetent nincompoops.
What then, is a mechanically incompetent nincompoop? Let the article speak for itself.
"Second-graders who can't tie shoes or zip jackets. Four-year-olds in Pull-Ups diapers. Five-year-olds in strollers. Teens and preteens befuddled by can openers and ice-cube trays. College kids who've never done laundry, taken a bus alone or addressed an envelope. Are we raising a generation of nincompoops?"
The author cites two books: The Winter of Our Disconnect, by Susan Maushart, and The Dumbest Generation by Mark Bauerlein. Both discuss the effect of technology on our society. If ever I surmount the reading list already in front of me, I hope to investigate both of these books, and I pray they each emphasize the core of the problem.
Education always has and always will begin and develop best in the home. It is refreshing to see an author focusing on parents as the most influential factor. Technology may turn society on its head. Parents who properly raise and teach their children can turn it back. They may allow as much or as little technology into their children's lives as they so choose. If there is an epidemic of nincompoops upon us, parenting will create or eliminate the flood.
Twelve year olds who are intimidated by ice cube trays is, in the end, a mostly superficial concern. More alarming is the implied moral passivity. In his book, The Closing of the American Mind, Allan Bloom asserts that while Americans used to govern their lives based on principles in The Declaration of Independence and the Bible, they are no longer raised to believe in such principles. Parents are afraid to teach their children what they should believe, leaving them to decide for themselves. In the same vein, Flannery O'Connor said, "It is easy to see that the moral sense has been bred out of certain sections of the population, like wings have been bred off certain chickens to produce more white meat on them. This is a generation of wingless chickens."
In other words, poor parenting means not only that the rising generation is mechanically clueless, but morally unfounded; uncertain. This does not bode well.
It cannot be stressed enough that schools and other programs will not, will never repair this! Day-care cannot fix it. Boy Scouts will not solve the problem. Youth groups are inadequate. Only a recommitment to home education will be sufficient to teach children to build their lives around a strong work ethic and sound morality. This kind of education begins in infancy. Responsibility rests squarely on the shoulders of parents.
Personally, I am a stubborn advocate of home schooling. In my experience, public education is not only inadequate in providing a holistic education, it is counter-productive to that end. Prior to college I spent almost equal time in between home schools and public schools. I have now been a student at nine different public and private institutions and the most important education I received was and continues to be based on my experience with home schooling.
Now is not the time to address that issue in full, but I mention it because it is a possible counter to one of the greatest potential dangers of public schools. A question worth investigating would be how parenting patterns have changed with the advent of public schools and day-cares. Conceivably, some parents may feel obviated of their primary responsibility to teach their children because they believe the government has taken control of that. Dual income homes, children placed in the hands of state or private establishments for their education distances parents from their children. One reason to advocate home schooling is that it forces parents to remember and accept their responsibility as teachers.
In this context, the home school is only one possible solution. It is neither a sufficient nor a necessary condition to lay to rest our Associated Press author's concern. Even so, a solution must be found in every family, or the mechanical and moral structure of our entire society will inevitably crumble.
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