Knowledge

Education: Noun - the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.

The more you know the better you are in your life. Whether it is street smarts or books, sometimes a combo of both is the most beneficial. Nowadays, learning and education are down played. Children are no longer being encouraged to be all that they can be. Teachers are only doing their jobs for a paycheck. The passion behind the art of teaching is gone. This is sad as the education being provided is half-assed.

The children coming home from school still need lessons in order to complete their homework. This is frustrating on parents. What are we paying taxes for? Teachers are not teaching our children to their full potential anymore. The passion to teach the children and then have them walk out the classroom fulfilled is no longer there. Teachers have a bad habit of labeling these children as hyper, ADD or even “basic”. This is false in most of the cases as all these children need are more nurturing. Not every child can pick up on certain concepts at the same speed. Everyone learns differently.

I can attest to the fact that I spent many a evenings teaching my daughter the day’s lesions just to get her to be able to complete her homework. I felt this is something that the teachers should be doing in school. The teachers can defend themselves and say that class sizes have increased and it’s almost impossible to teach so many kids in one day. This is not a good defense. These teachers are being paid to do a job and so many children are still being left behind. This all seems backwards to me, but I guess school is not what it used to be.

The art of education has been lost. Even being in high school, I can remember being smart got you made fun of. Getting A’s on your tests and someone always had something to say. I believe this is still happening today. The moments that these kids need to be learning, they are being influenced by peers and the streets. The wrong information is being loaded in these young minds. Watching music videos and sporting the newest sneakers is not the most important thing in life. These will not get them into the being the future’s next world leaders.

President Obama did not make it to be the president by sitting on the block or ditching classes. Oprah did not make it to being the richest black woman in the world by sitting there expecting a man to take care of here. Julia Roberts is not the most highly paid actress by not doing her homework. These people took advantage of their education and the opportunities to learn. They were also guided by the right people to get their education and be the best that they could be. Knowledge made these people who they are today. Being the president or the best actress just does not appear out of nowhere. They have the foundation (knowledge & education) to enhance their skills.

Without education, our children are misguided. If the teacher and parents do not show the passion for learning, then the children will not either. Our future relies on how well we prepare our children.

I look around at these children today and listen to how they talk and see how they need attention. They need to be guided and shown the right way so they can make something of themselves. So many people do not make it to college because they do not know about the many scholarships and grants out there. This is all in the know.

At the end of the day, it is what you know that will get you places in life. To be successful, it is a mixture of skill and knowledge. If you do not have the knowhow; your abilities are limited. Education is a big part of living and being all that one can be.