Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Giving up the Blame Game

Several years ago, I think there was a story about a wealthy man who promised a class of impoverished students free college tuition if they graduated from high school.  You're probably thinking that this deal was “money in the bank” for those students—problems solved.   Not really.  A majority of the scholarships went unused.  I was shocked by this outcome, but it shows that money doesn’t fix everything.  Apparently, the students faced some obstacles that were just too large to conquer. 
This situation reminded me of a book I read.  It’s a riveting memoir about a dysfunctional couple whose children grew up to lead relatively normal lives.  Check out the book video featuring the author and a piece of her story:


I often wonder why some kids make it through difficult circumstances and others flounder.  Despite growing up in extreme poverty, Ms. Walls (from the book video) had one critical element going for her—encouragement.  Although her father lived a risky and eccentric lifestyle, she often heard him say something like, “I knew you could do it, Mountain Goat!”  They shared a unique father-daughter relationship and the various family members seemed to love one another. 
While we may live in the world’s greatest country, I believe we can do a better job of preparing our young people for the future.  In your opinion, what’s the most important trait, quality or skill we need to instill in the next generation?             

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

As one who works with students primarily between the ages of 17 and 20, I feel we definitely need to offer encouragement. These young people have surprisingly been through a lot for their young age. They may have survived illnesses, suffered major losses, or have "simply" not received a good education. Part of a good education includes finding a student's strengths and offering them hope. Letting someone know that he/she can do it can go a long way--just like the father did for this daughter.

Bethanie said...

Yes! Thanks so much for sharing your experience and thoughts.

Anonymous said...

I think ultimately this shows that people really need to be loved and all that goes along with that (appreciation, edification, having a sense of value). Unfortunately we live in a society that, in general, highlights failures and downplays successes. Typically the success that are highlight are not of the everyday nature but more of the athletic achievement or business conquest. No, if we wait on the news, media, etc. to highlight sucesses of the "everyday nature" they will be very sparse. With that in mind we, in our everyday lives, should be conscientious of not knocking others down and being overly critical but should be soley in the business of building each other up.

Bethanie said...

Hear, here! So true.