Winners and Losers

To the editor:

Young children grow up in our culture believing there are winners and losers at the game of life. That the criteria for judging success or failure is how much money you make or the status you achieve. Did you join the one percent? Or are you struggling to pay your bills? Did you find a job that pays well and then pays more until your income grows astronomically? Or did you settle for less?

Our culture values success in financial terms above all else it seems, with fame and power close behind. What then should we teach our students about a successful life. What is the best criteria for deciding what is a successful life? We should encourage them to develop their own set of values and decide the criteria for themselves. Their parents and relatives will be a big influence in this regard. But one thing is for certain. Every child will learn that whatever goals they choose, whatever values they hold dear, they will make mistakes. They will not achieve all their goals and they will not be a success at everything they choose to do. So what is the teacher's role in all this?

The teacher's role is to encourage their students to always do their best.To do the best they can.Knowing that their best effort on any given day may vary a great deal. The teacher must imbue their students with the idea that striving for excellence is always a good thing, whether they achieve excellence in the end or not. Teachers must always be giving their students examples of excellence from every possible source, field and walk of life. Examples of excellence in Art, Literature, Music, Athletics, Engineering, Business,P olitics. Excellence in overcoming challenges, adversity and setbacks. Excellence in character, virtue and leadership.

Children must see from a young age what is possible to achieve in life, in every aspect of life, but most of all in achieving the potential they have to become fine human beings, to grow and learn and improve through their life experiences, to become the person they want to be and believe they can be. But they need encouragement from their teachers. They need to be encouraged to do their best, seek excellence, and know they have the potential to achieve it, to reach some of their goals, and most importantly live a happy life while doing it.

Happiness, fulfillment, and achievement are not the result of but rather the means to a successful life. And health in mind and body should probably come first. But every child over the course of their education should be encouraged to always do the best they can knowing they cannot fail if they do, that they will succeed and accomplish many great things. And that the person they become, the person they have always had the potential to be, will be their greatest achievement and success.

Teachers have an important role to play in this, by not accepting sub standard work, or by inflating grades and praising the perfunctory effort. Teachers must be willing to face opposition and even acrimony in the process knowing their students will be better off for having done so.

- Jim Turner, Fairfield