Yesterday, I was speaking with a young student of color at the school where I work and I was wondering why he didn’t feel very motivated to do much of the work in school. In speaking with this young man, I began to realize that he felt he was part of a system that had very little to offer him, whether he tried or not. After all, he is a young black man in America; and to be honest, it is difficult to look around this country right now and see much hope for any, whatever tone your skin might radiate. I also realized that if it was not possible to get this young man motivated to succeed in his education, his doubts about his future are likely to become a reality.
This got me thinking. How is it possible to motivate young students in primary level education to care about their own education? This is all I could come up with…
If you want to change the system in which you play a part, you need power. If you want to have power in this world, you are going to need money (at least enough to support yourself) and influence. The amount of money and influence any person has in this world is usually directly correlated to the knowledge they possess. The best type of knowledge is wisdom; and wisdom allows us, as human beings, to wield power, money and influence in the ways possible that best benefit ourselves and humankind to the greatest extent. Wisdom, however, is wholly dependent on education. Education from school. Education from family. Education from friends and the education from the society in which we live.
Education is power. Power is change. Education is the key to any change in society.
I don’t know if I will be able to convince my young friend that education is important, but I will never stop trying, because he, and all my students, are important to me. Lastly, whatever wisdom I might possess in my lifetime, I want to use to create the change I most desire. Hope, for all.
A Grateful Life 