Spiritual Perspectives
What Did You Learn in School Today?

By Ron Polinder
Special to The Independent

Some of you products of the 60s may remember the protest song by Tom Paxton entitled, “What did you learn in school today?” Paxton was asking one of the most important questions that can ever be asked. And of course the potential answers are legion. Let’s examine a few possible response/answers:

Of course for Paxton it was a loaded question — and his answers reflected the spirit of those rebellious years.

What did you learn in school today, dear little boy of mine?

I learned that Washington never told a lie

I learned that soldiers seldom die

I learned that everybody's free

That's what the teacher said to me

And that's what I learned in school today

That's what I learned in school.

That is but verse one of four stinging verses that challenge a bunch of American platitudes. I may not join Paxton in all his cynicism, but I sure appreciate the question — and parents ought to be asking it with Paxton.

Like a lot of families, we would often ask that question around the dinner table when our kids were growing up. And many of you know the painful answer we would too often get — nothingggggggg! For a tuition paying family, this was not the response we were hoping for — especially when I was the principal of the outfit!

But, in fact we knew our kids were learning a lot — they just were not in the mood to discuss it, or found the words hard to find to describe it. But our kids were getting very much the kind of education we were paying for — and we are thankful that their lives today give ample evidence of it!

But all too many families cannot be happy with the honest, real, correct answer. For thousands of kids, when they answer “nothing,” that is exactly the case — or very close to it! The grim test scores that continue to plague this nation, and this region, suggest that our schools are badly broken, and many nations are kicking our behinds in standardized tests given around the world.

Most parents don’t have a clue how comparatively poor their kids are achieving. And if they do, they are quick to blame the teachers and administrators, while failing to understand that education begins at home. Lots of teachers and principals, though not all, are working overtime trying to help kids succeed, and they get precious little reinforcement from dad and mom.

What did your kids learn in school today? — the “nothing”factor needs to be seriously considered.

A second fear that parents and teachers alike need to ponder is that often our kids are learning the wrong things in school. While schools are plenty challenged to provide a rigorous and relevant written curriculum, those of us who have been at this awhile know that it is often the hidden curriculum that seems to prevail, for good or ill.

• When a 13 year old bullies an eight year old on the bus, there is too good a chance that the eight year old just learned how to be a bully himself.
• When a 15 year old whispers to her friends how good it felt to have sex with her boyfriend, guess who just learned an unfortunate lesson.
• When Senior athletes get by with drinking, or it gets swept under the rug, the Freshmen and Sophomores are getting a message — the wrong one!
  A third fear that many parents testify to is indeed the planned curriculum or program or textbook. Often parental values and strongly held beliefs are systematically undermined.
• Families, who believe there is a God who created, have youngsters who are sometimes taught by science teachers who are confined to their own presuppostions which do not allow for faith and science to complement each other.
• Or a serious dad tries to teach respect for young women only to have some hack give his son a demonstration on how to use a condom with the justification that “boys will be boys.”
• Or it may be censorship by omission — the important issues and questions that are not allowed to be addressed in contemporary public classrooms, thus suggesting that “truth” is no where to be found.

All this from a simple little folk song? Yes, and a lot more — next time!

Ron Polinder is the executive director of Rehoboth Christian School. He can be contacted at rpolinder@rcsnm.org or (505) 863-4412.

This column is written by area residents, representing different faith communities, who share their ideas about bringing a spiritual perspective into our daily lives and community issues. For information about contributing a guest column, contact Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola at The Independent: (505) 863-6811 ext. 218 or lizreligion01@yahoo.com.