Techno-Mousetraps

I was thinking this morning about change and what a mixed bag it is. Good things like indoor plumbing, electricity, automobiles, technology and eradicating diseases like polio have enormous human impact. I suppose change has to stand on the shoulders of the past and use it for fuel, but it makes me sad to know the horse and buggy, Pony Express and slide rule become an asterisk in some history book.

'Follow me', Change says, 'There is a better way.'

Change isn't good by nature, it depends on how we direct it. I don't see it strengthening our society in our beating our best efforts without contemplating the toll. Do we really need this much entertainment-driven technology that isolates the society? If our best minds are focused on Gameboys and Blackberrys, who will carry on the American legacy of being the world's gritty survivors, inventors and innovators?

That bigger and better mousetrap everybody's focused on might just beat us at our own game.

Still

Sunday curls sunlight into the room as a fire gently plays its song. In pajamas and robes, we tuck into the sofa and laugh over a jumble of old movies, then and now. She loves you, ya ya ya.

The day before we'd been on Potrero Hill admiring The City at night, re-discovering Diego Rivera's frescoes at Coit Tower, reliving the Haight and Apollo Records, savoring steamed clams and Louie at the Clam House, walking the Giant moments at Pac Bell Park, taking the crookedest street that isn't Lombard, and celebrating 'The Thinker' at the Legion of Honor.

His home turf. As am I. This connection we have, these moments, make me forget what life was like before. My heart stands still.

Advanced Citizenship

I was surprised to learn a Presidential debate, a school board meeting and a movie raised the same question: Have we quit participating in our own lives?

Television and newspapers are not designed to cull from the herd a qualified Commander in Chief. They set up ratings-driven jousting competitions whose bias is to entertain. Education and enlightenment are byproducts. We already know the modern media takes no moral responsibility in its reporting. Why, then, would we expect it to provide a neutral and meaningful forum for in-depth discussions on significant issues?

It wasn't always that way. In the Nixon/Kennedy debates, television provided an incredible opportunity for the masses to evaluate the two platforms and candidates. Nowadays, it promotes itself. I don't think we should underestimate the impact of Reality shows here, no more than we should underestimate the effect violent video games have on violence. Reality shows have developed in us a taste for entertainment decision-making. These shows often vote off the most capable players, encouraging and empowering us to make snap judgments using superficial criteria. When it comes to picking a President, some of us use other tools to be informed on the issues, but most of us don't.

A school board meeting last week brought to light a concern about a middle school history book which inaccurately teaches about Islam. What is the problem, I wondered to myself, until this intelligent woman questioned the School Board on the disparity of teaching religion in a school that disallows its children the right to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. I listened to her voice crack with emotion as she wrestled with understanding the relevance of her son learning why Muslims face East as they kneel in prayer and explained the inaccuracies inherent in the textbook adopted by many of our nation's schools. I listened intently now as she cited passages describing the holy meaning of 'Jihad' without them mentioning the resulting terror that it has come to mean in the modern world. And when she pleaded with parents to listen to their children and become involved in their learning, I understood.

How incredible those words had to be said, that parents don't already actively participate. Education enlightens and promotes tolerance if it is impartial and balanced or it is propaganda. The danger isn't the topic as much as that we aren't paying attention.

I saw the movie Lions for Lambs yesterday. It was an interesting movie but not a comfortable experience. The movie explores the importance of recognizing and excising self-centeredness and complacency through dynamic participation. Whether we succeed or fail, the human experience dares us to engage in our world, to risk ourselves and take a stand.

I believe in education, as most of us do. I believe it is the key to diplomacy and taking the high road wherever possible. If we are to provide an even-handed foundation of philosophical enlightenment for our people, it needs to be taught in the schools. Along with a light dusting of religion where it pertains to human motives for significant historical events, we should teach what Socrates and Aristotle knew about advanced citizenship.

But we need to do more. We must demonstrate the personal responsibility each of us bears as Americans by actively and continually participating in the democratic process toward the goals for which we stand: One God. Indivisible. With Liberty and Justice for All.

It was Hillel who said: 'If I am not for myself, who will be? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?'

Indeed.

Hallowed Ground

How many people acknowledge schools as organic life forms? Kids breathe life into the mortar and bricks, lawns and desks. It is the skeletal structure for the heart and intellect of those walking its halls, and they count on it.

Schools are an intermediate step to independence. Parents ease children faithfully into the schools, believing in the process, understanding the inherent risks of releasing their grasp. Like a mother bird nudging her chicks toward the edge of the nest, we are readying our children for flight. We know exploring the world educationally and socially is key to their success. We know they can't fly without wings and yet it is no less of a struggle to let go.

Some think schools are a microcosm of the world, but it's more than that. It's an alternate universe, a place where life extends beyond what children know at home. Here they are also known, protected and challenged to explore ideas and be groomed for life.

This is hallowed ground. The relationships and experiences developed in schools are every bit as significant as those at home. Schools take seriously their responsibility in creating an environment of safety and tolerance but they can't do it alone.

When little ones skip off to school, we fret over who they meet, what they learn, and if they are safe. Years pass and parents settle into the routine, skipping more open houses and academic events in middle and high school and relinquishing the chance to know who and what influences their children the most.

There's not much I like about Hillary Clinton but one thing she said is very true: it takes a village to raise a child. Leaving the raising of anyone's child to someone else is foolish. But when a family stands alongside school officials, bus drivers, teachers, ministers, community leaders, friends and neighbors, you've got yourself a winning team.