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There was an education summit this week in Warsaw.
I think this is a good thing. It's a proactive approach to dealing with education issues. It's the community getting involved.
This was the sixth annual education summit. But this one was a little different.
In the past, the summits have focused on things like life skills, career skills and education programs.
This year the focus was on school and community safety. This is unsettling.
Not because it wasn't a valid topic. Quite the contrary. It's unsettling to me because it is a valid topic.
It bothers me that we have to discuss it at all.
It bothers me that schools these days must continue to devote more and more resources to safety issues.
Of course we want our kids to be safe. And of course these issues must be addressed.
But every dollar spent on a cop to roam the halls or a new locking system or a student ID system or a video surveillance system is a dollar not spent on educating our kids.
At the summit, groups discussed the question, "How do adults and kids handle conflict, anger, disappointment, etc., and what can we do about it?"
The groups suggested training in conflict management, peer mediation, input from the juvenile justice system, teaching of values and morality and an emphasis on communication skills.
Those are all good concepts, but every moment spent on conflict management and peer mediation is a moment not spent on educating our kids.
Problem is, it seems each year educators are obliged to spend more time on things like conflict resolution and less time on things like reading.
I suppose that may have something to do with some of the dismal statistics we see coming out of education circles these days. Like the one quoted by the guy from Lilly Endowment Inc., who was in town Tuesday to talk about an education grant Lilly is offering.
He noted that 45 percent of Indiana 10th graders don't pass the ISTEP graduating exam. I've seen about a dozen sample questions from that exam. They're really not all that tough.
But, nonetheless, school officials must devote time to these safety issues.
They must deal with the dearth in civility that our nation continues to endure.
They must cope with the hedonistic vision of freedom espoused by many in society today.
That vision tells us that pleasure and happiness are the sole or chief purposes in life and that you truly can't be free until you achieve them.
That, of course, is nonsense.
The doctrine of "if it feels good, do it" has been blended with the doctrine of "I, me, my."
And woe to the person who stands in the way.
You see the attitude everywhere. In the checkout line at the grocery store. In the bleachers at the game. On the telephone with the solicitor.
A growing percent of our population seems unable to handle anger. At the same time, our society seems to be a bit more inclined to be angry and a bit more tolerant of negativity.
A negative response is almost expected.
Take road rage, for example. There's a '90s kind of term.
Road rage is the habit of driving aggressively. You have thoughts of violence against other drivers. You drive like you're in a hurry because you can't stand slow traffic. You constantly criticize and condemn other drivers in your mind.
You feel hostile toward them because they impede your progress.
You choose not to observe safety rules you don't agree with, like signaling lane changes, making full stops or not following too closely.
You accept yourself as a self-centered driver and feel competent and comfortable the way you are. You resist the idea that you need to change.
There are lots of drivers like that out there. And their numbers are growing.
The experts say it's for two reasons - one physical and one psychological.
The physical results from the fact, quite simply, that there are more cars and the same amount of roads. It's akin to tossing a couple rats in a washtub. They get along fine. Toss in a few more and they start getting agitated. Toss in few more and they start fighting. Toss in a few more and they start killing each other.
The psychological, they say, has to do with the fact that aggressive driving has been made the norm. Something we can tolerate. Something we can be proud of.
By the time teen-agers get driver's licenses, many have seen their parents driving aggressively. Movies and automotive advertising also depict aggressive driving as a positive. Auto racing is the No. 1 spectator sport in the world.
I see road rage as a symptom more than a disease. The disease is a decline in civility and morality. Road rage is just a symptom.
Just like kids shooting up schools is a symptom. These things are learned. You aren't born to be an aggressive driver or a gun-toting student. You learn it. You learn it from the culture, from the adults in your life.
Our educators are faced with a daunting task. How can they possibly get students to handle their anger and accentuate the positive when the trend in our culture is quite the opposite?
It's a question that currently has no answer.
But one thing is certain. Educators will be devoting lots of time and resources to finding that answer.
