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Perspective Newsletters
Fall 2001
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Page 1
Dear Friends of Leary School:
By the time you receive this issue of the Perspective, probably much will have changed. We may very well be in the midst of an extremely dangerous world conflict probably in the Middle East. As I write this article, it has only been ten days since the tragedy of September 11.
On September 11th, the roof shook and we heard the explosions at the Pentagon. Military aircraft flew over the Virginia campus of Leary School and those at the Oxon Hill campus could see and smell the fumes from the Pentagon. Of course, students, staff and all of us learned from the media the devastating news of what was going on. Ordinary life was severely interrupted.
Now, ten days later, we are still digging out the Pentagon and World Trade buildings. We are giving blood and donations. We are also taking in a large amount of news and opinions as we, as a country, try to find our way to respond to this horrible attack.
The opinions, not to mention some of the most important facts related to the attack, vary greatly. Some are sure who is behind the attack while others are not so sure. Some strongly believe that we should strike back immediately and with all of our might and perhaps with a high level of indiscretion - attack Afghanistan, 'nuke them', it does not matter so much that innocent life will be lost, this is war, 'nuking them' will address all the terrorists around the world in a way that sends a clear message. The price of war is loss of life, ours and others, do not be weak. These sentiments have been quite common.
At the same time, there have been demonstrations and other public opinion advocating finding the guilty parties, bringing them to justice, improving our defenses, our security internally, fighting terrorism with fervor and addressing the root of the problem on a policy and political front.
There are, of course, millions of different opinions and deviations and mixtures of the above. It seems we are all searching for the best solutions which ultimately will be a blending that occurs through the political process of our collective internal beliefs and huge exchange of ideas across our country. It is this point that I want to build upon for the betterment of our children and society.
While each of us wrestles with what we hear through the media and dialogue with others and what is inside of us, our young people, our children, our students and the next generation of Americans takes it in yet another way. They obviously go through everything that we do - taking information and opinions in, trying to find the right way to go on many fronts: morally, spiritually, philosophically, politically, and humanly. They also look to us for guidance and as models. For many young people, part of the process of shaping personal opinion involves sifting through the opinions and rhetoric of those adults significant to them. What my mother, father, neighbors, grandparents and teachers have said carries great weight.
At the same time, it is a great step in development to form your own ideas about the world order. We, most times, do not teach the process to do so. In other words, we offer facts, we offer our opinions and, many times, offer a conclusive - at least to us - analysis. We tell them what the right thing is - according to us. We love our children and want to provide for them and are used to providing guidance. Since they have not participated much in this process, we often just do most of it for them. "Be strong, support your country" "The United States is wrong or right about its current policy". These are our opinions, we believe in them and they should be shared.
However, for the child or teenager, they need to be encouraged to find their own place, both ideologically and as participants in the country. As adults, our job is to help them grow up, which involves not only achieving a general independence but the skills to be healthy thinkers and active citizens. Their opinions matter. The country is as much theirs as it is ours. There will come a day when they will be in the 'driver's seat' and we will be dependent upon the choices they make - their ideas, opinions, beliefs and sense of nationalism. Rather then give them the answers, give them the skills to find the answers themselves.
In other words, I believe it best to help young people deal with the huge mix of opinion, different slants the media may put on the facts and to learn to synthesize all of this in a human and whole way, which also means to make sure that all those wonderful human values get attention. Young people need to get in touch with the value of human life - all of human life. They need to understand and accept how others with equally relevant human values, moral people, positive people, thoughtful people, can come to a very different opinion than theirs. They need to be able to challenge their own thinking and, of course, that of others.
How did you take in the news? Now that some time has passed, what occurred, what was involved as you synthesized all that you heard and saw and came to certain positions? Now, rather than simply give a young person the benefit of your wisdom, give them the benefit of your thought process and let them go from there.
How does one human determine that he or she can take the life of another? What started the problem in the first place? How can we respond to achieve what we really want? How do emotions play into all of this? What about differences in culture, religion, thinking, morals, values, and circumstances? What is the history? How do other reasonable people come up with ideas so different than mine?
The current events in the world will affect all of us dramatically. While we want to protect our young even from the complexities of the situation, we have a job to do to educate our young and to allow them to share in the world that is equally theirs. Teach your child to think critically, to challenge their own thinking and that of others and with courage, honesty, responsibility and good values. We all share in the huge job of shaping and sharing the world, person by person.
I do wish everyone well and hope that safety and humanity can be improved as we go forward together with our young people.
Ed Schultze, Ed.D.
Executive Director/President
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