Careful what you teach 'em

Letter to Victorville, Ca Daily Press today. At 16 Frank intends to overhaul our Ed. Sys


Open letter to Frank Rich ("A young man with a plan,” Sept. 8):

Frank, I am astounded at the depth of your perception and the ambition to put it into practice, with your plan to overhaul K-12 who are “…not learning skills…for their journey into adulthood.” (Indeed, wish I would have better applied myself as a youngster, before dulling my mind with 60 years of The Exotic Imported Brew.) In addition to “…history and science…and advanced math…also training for their chosen career path,” however, your vocational approach has to be buttressed by the realization that the Existing Establishment almost totally ignores the single most critical issue: It simply doesn’t teach us how to live.

One of those: How important to learn your parents don’t know-it-all.

Because our humanoid brain rejects much of the experience of early childhood, It isn’t generally appreciated that grammar school kids, indeed even the K, are vastly smarter and more receptive that most realize. Yet this is precisely the age they need to be introduced to humanistic concepts: philosophic, religious, ethical, etc; before they’re teenagers and it’s too late.

I warn you, though, in this radical approach you will meet much resistance, especially from The Right, who feel a compelling need to shield their offspring from the influence of such common lenience so they cannot sink into the teeming barbarism of us hoi polloi.

So Frank, best of luck in your massive quest.


Dale Hileman
Apple Valley