Radio Commentary
There is no thrill quite like the
one that comes from mastering a challenge.
Remember the first time you
realized the marks on a page were words, and you could understand them?
Or the first time you looked
through a microscope, played an instrument, or understood what someone was
saying in another language?
U.S. schools seek to give that same
opportunity to every child every day by helping students set high standards and
specific goals.
Education also gives students life
skills like self-discipline, patience, and the importance of sharing. Students
learn to pay attention when others are speaking.
Many schools also teach children
how to solve disagreements through conflict resolution. Extracurricular
activities, from student government offices to volunteer projects, also offer
chances to learn life skills.
Wrote author Tomas Henry Huxley:
“Perhaps the most valuable result of education is the ability to make yourself
do the things you have to do, when they ought to be done, whether you like it
or not.”
And former Xerox CEO David Kearns,
added: “Education not only imparts the great lessons of history, citizenship,
and science, it teaches people to think, to solve problems, to take risks, to
be an entrepreneur, and an innovator.”
That is, in fact, the great
strength of the American public school system and always has been. It’s worthy
of our support.
