With that said, there are two issues I'd scream from the rooftops if it meant they'd be addressed in this year's election and if my landlord wouldn't evict me.
Education
Let's be honest, nobody but the learn-o-holics enjoy lectures and homework, express excitement of emails announcing upcoming quizzes, or read chapters ahead for no reason at all. All those math problems are chicken-scratch on the chalkboard and that biology-flick is a whitenoise whisper to your phone's instant messaging.
Sometimes you get professors, the heroes, who liven up the classroom and engage you. They're kind and patient but keep things moving, but they're not that common. Students today struggle to succeed and hardly learn because America's education system is flawed.
We memorize facts, and not taught to discover them for ourselves. We learned of the fall of the Roman empire, but not why we bothered. Few of us are instilled with critical thinking, and even less a desire to learn. We're taught to ready ourselves for jobs and not life. We're problem doers, not problem solvers.
Inspiring the next generation to want to learn is far more important than what they do learn, especially when they only learn for standardized testing.
Mental Healthcare
I don't mean autism, Asperger's or schizophrenia—but hear me out. The world centers on nobody but the narcissistic; it revolves around people, our interactions our wills, hopes and dreams. Our understandings of ourselves and one another. Racism and sexism are nothing in society compared to depression, greed, jealousy, anger, trust issues, intolerance, misunderstandings, and a detachment from one another.
Woah—got a little serious there . . . the problem I'm talking about is that grouchy-cashier, that guy refusing to tip, your neighbor with two wrong sides to her bed, and that kid who stole your yu-gi-oh cards.
We as a society should take steps towards creating a happier population, reducing stress from work, education, and at home. Gambling, drug-abuse, alcoholism, suicide, and violence are the results of an abundance of negative influences, and a lack of positive forces in our daily lives.
What I'm asking for is better preparations for young adults in life, more affortable options for battling illness like depression or other psychiatric problems—that don't rely on medications. Education in reducing stress, research into personality disorders, development of treatments, and greater quality of therapy and counseling.
* * *
Maybe I'm being hopelessly quixotic here, but I believe this is the core of society, and if we work towards a better next century, tomorrow might just be the better day we're looking for.
With all that said: if you're reading this Adam, I'm sorry I stole your yu-gi-oh cards. . .
Good night.
Words can't describe the love I have for this post. Both of the points that you've made here are messages that I've been trying to encourage for years! Having been home-schooled my entire life prior to attending NOVA, I was thankfully lucky enough to have parents who (above all else) encouraged me to be enthusiastic about learning. Rather than shoving information down my throat and asking me to repeat it back verbatim, they instead taught me how to teach myself, and how to relish the satisfaction of learning something new. This has served me extremely well since I started attending college, as has the encouragement from every good instructor I've had here thus far. Although I don't always succeed, I also try to be as good and as positive of a person as I possibly can be. While it may feel relieving or satisfying to do it for a short time, taking your negative feelings out on others and hurting them doesn't do any good. The only thing it does is make them feel terribly as well, and later (if you're anything like me) you'll likely as not also feel horrible for having done it. They may later go on to pass those negative feeling on to somebody else, and it'll just continue in a vicious cycle until somebody decides to put an end to it. What trouble is putting a smile on your face, complimenting somebody, or just treating people like goddamn human beings when considering the fact that it could possibly be the only positive interaction this person has had all day? In my opinion, it's none at all.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with you that trying to encourage these values on a widespread level isn't likely to be easy, I also agree that doing so has the potential to fix a lot of the issues that plague both this country and this world. MAJOR kudos to you for writing this, Matt. Wherever you are, I hope you can hear me slow-clapping it out.
And also, when you see these comments, would you be so kind as to send me an email? There seems to have been a bit of an error with the group email I sent out in regards to the hashtag presentation, and I wasn't quite sure how else to get in touch with you.
ReplyDeleteMy email: rsr2244@email.vccs.edu
While I don't mind having my email up in the comments section, feel free to delete this comment, if you like. Seeing as how it doesn't actually relate to the blog, I'll not be the least bit offended.
Am I an "old"? What's the "biology flick"--a movie in biology class? Ok--back to the post. I like this side of your writing, the discourse that really connects with ideas. And I agree with you. I think most professors would love nothing else but to sit in a big circle and play Socrates--teasing out ideas, testing their value, debating results, talking through knowledge. As it stands, educational systems need, more than ever, liberal arts educations that include philosophy, to do this. I think it might, in some way, partially address issue #2. But if we become institutions of job training, then we're doomed. Great food for thought here!
ReplyDeleteI truly enjoyed reading your post! You hit both of the topics right on point. I agree with you, especially with the mental health. I feel as if that's something that isn't looked at as closely as other issues. Mental health is something very important and needs more light to be shined on. There's numerous of people who have a mental illness, but it isn't taken serious or is just shoved to the side. As well with the education!
ReplyDelete