What a debate it was!

 

There are SO MANY opportunities for people to engage in debate when it comes to …

…roles and responsibilities of our government

…moral imperatives for social services

…the role of educational institutions 

…use of money and resources; and  

…the responsibilities of families

 

In addition, family partners live in staging areas designed for debates just by the nature of the family!

 

So, there I was… In it up to my eyebrows, advocating for the careful, thoughtful, nurturing development of our young people. 

 

I have spent almost forty years in education and I am the matriarch of the family, so I have some authority.  In addition, I provide the spaghetti and meatballs, so there is some leverage there!

 

However, these are such complicated issues with so many fragmented and disparate considerations; there are certainly no clean cut answers.  My husband Bob’s view alone provides perspective. (He spends all day, everyday, helping senior citizens figure out how to financially survive.)  Everyone brings their life experience to the debate. 

 

How do we answer these and a myriad of other questions?

 

• What responsibility does a society at large have, to make up for the limited nurturance going on in the family?
• Does the neglected five-year-old not deserve the same chance as the well nurtured five-year-old?
• What responsibility does the extended family have to pick up the neglected conditions of another’s children?
• What responsibility does the governmental agency have to care for its young?
• If it cost exponentially more to incarcerate people with social and literacy issues, should we not have acted preventatively?
• As a society, how do we best care for our children?
• If one pays for more in one area of social services than another, who then is left needy?
• We KNOW how to develop thoughtful, caring, proficient people, who in turn go on to develop the same as they have their children.  But, who’s going to pay for any of this and how?

 

In these very difficult social and economic times, I encourage your family to reflect on the complexities that lie before us.  A society is only as good as the young it develops. 

 

What is the wisdom of the moment?

 

Wait until after dessert is served!

 

My best to you as always,

Donna