..."It takes a village to raise a child"...
I think that sums up all that you just said.

-----Original Message-----
From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Wirt Atmar
Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2005 2:26 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] OT: More Evolution


Howard writes:

> I've admired the commentary of Wirt for a number of years on this list

> and his comment exposes, or at least alludes to, a point of view all 
> too  commonly heard within the vox populi, namely, that your children 
> are  your responsibility, not mine.
>
>  I'm not pointing a finger at Wirt, just using his comment as an 
> example.  I'm sure he's smart enough to recognize the value of 
> education as much  or more than just about anyone we can think of.

That isn't at all what I meant, even if it was interpreted in that
manner.

The point I meant to argue was every child's first, best teachers are
their parents. These are the people who either instill a joy in
life-long learning, or they stifle it. I've been in homes where there
are no books, the children aren't read to at night, nor are they even
rarely spoken to in an intelligent manner.

Ignorance, superstition and poverty are as much learned attributes as
any other form of knowledge or behavior, and the larger the percentage
of these children that come to exist, the more they impoverish us all.
It is in our own enlightened self-interest to do whatever we can to
elevate our neighbors' children to their highest potentials, to provide
them with every possible economic and educational opportunity.

I can't imagine anyone being so disconnected from the world that he
can't understand that.

But there is only very short time window to truly educate a child, and
much of it occurs before the child enters school. By age 12 or so, if
the child isn't fully engaged in the process of self-education, it's
almost as if his soul has been lost, and I am not exaggerating when I
say that I consider that a form of murder.

Wirt Atmar

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