ahavafriend: Education vs. Values (via Mowser)

Yesterday I was listening to a portion of the Dennis Prager show while he was responding to a comment by Chris Dodd made during the Dem. Presidential debate: "Education... is the single-most important issue because it is the solution to every other issue we confront as a people." Prager challenged this supposition by claiming that the biggest problem is how to produce good people and good Americans. He claimed that it is precisely because of education that we are in such a poor shape as a nation.

He then presented two facts: 1) Poor people are more likely to commit violent crimes in America, but not because they are poor, rather because they have poor values. One does not rape because one is poor. One does not murder because one is poor. One may steal food or clothing or be vagrant, but these are not violent crimes necessarily. 2) The educated are MORE likely to support violent ideology than the uneducated. This is supported by those who participated in Nazism, Communism, Apartheid, etc. Most of the world's worst atrocities were committed and managed by the highly educated.

Two personal thoughts came to mind as I was listening: 1) My experience in child-welfare and the court system would suggest that those who are not educated are more likely to be "victims" of "the system" because they do not know their rights, the proper ways to advocate for themselves, nor how to assess the long-term consequences of the events that connected them to the system. It is also interesting anecdotally that the vast majority of my clients (families involved with child abuse/neglect) would be considered "uneducated" from a formal, schooling perspective. This is not to say that educated people don't abuse/neglect their children - they just have more sophisticated ways of doing it and covering it up. I do believe that education would be highly valuable to assist those caught up in the court systems of any branch (just think of how dumb or sheepish you felt if you ever went to appeal a parking/speeding ticket without any understanding or orientation to what was happening. Before you knew it, you had agreed to pay for the ticket because you stood up at the wrong time or stood in the wrong line - here knowledge is power). 2) One of my all-time favorite movies, The Emporer's Club, tackles this precise issue. There is a scene in the movie where the teacher visits with a parent of one of his troubled students. As the teacher explains his frustrations to impart moral values to this student without the father's support in encouraging his son to be disciplined in his studies, the father interrupts that it was not the teacher's job to "shape" his son, but the father's. The teacher was at a loss, since the father did not see the connection between a good education and the impartation of values.

This reminds me of a quote I recently discovered by Theodore Roosevelt: "To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society." And this may be the crux of the matter. I did not hear Prager's conclusion since I had to go back to work. But combining his thoughts with mine, here's what I would say: Training in values, including the value of learning, hard work, respect for the elderly/wisdom, etc., will produce good Americans. And regardless of the socio-economic status of the recipient, this will produce, in general, a law-abiding, productive member of society. Now, if schools will teach values like these, than I would agree with Chris Dodd - education could solve many, if not most, of our countries problems. The bigger problem is, however, that schools are teaching contrary values like instant gratification, personal rights over responsibilities, political correctness, and in some cases, sheer debauchery in their health classes and fiction in their history courses. And this is where I would agree with Prager - education (like this kind) won't solve poverty or crime or drug abuse or teen suicide. Strong moral values that elevate the worth of hard work, chaste living, big dreaming combined with delayed gratification, self-sacrifice, and contributing to society can. [As a Christian, I would add a clear moral compass rooted in a relationship with Christ as a foundational layer to this argument.] This matter is integral to so many other issues, including social justice, international relations, the military/armed conflict, etc.

Just for the fun of it, here is a list of other witty, but true quotes about education.

2 comments:

Sara Hyun said...: Since I was able to hear the rest of the Prager show I can tell you a little more about his conclusion. He highlighted that consequences, rather than education, were imperative to maintaining a civil nation. He was not minimizing the role which formal education plays in shaping and establishing these values (if he read your stuff he would agree). He was mainly attempting to address the issue that many things can not be educated (i.e. if there are offenses, there must be consequences, not just education programs). He was also making the distinction about the Democratic party maintaining the mantel of "educated persons" and taking somewhat of a jab regarding the Nazi comment that most of that was headed by educated people. He was weighing the education vs. values out and I think came to the conclusion that many liberals will throw out truth if it inconveniences their principles of equality and personal freedom. Just my two cents from what I heard.; 9:38 PM
John said...: Sara, thanks for the "rest of the story." Thoughts worth considering. As a woman who believes in complementarian roles, would you mind commenting on the women in combat post? Thanks; 4:20 PM

ahavafriend

Education vs. Values

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