America has discussed for decades how best to teach children the social skills need to be positive influences in society as they grow into young adulthood. The discussion goes from the Avante-Garde to the bourgeoisie and all things in betwixt. There is no true answer, but many believe it is a combination of family life, school life, and social interaction with their peers. In 2014, a pew research poll asking 3,000 parents what their number one quality that they want from their child is Responsibility. That’s what most parents list as the No. 1 quality they want their kids to have. This would truly be the antithesis to the current political agendas, but for children, and their parents it is the biggest concern. The ability to work hard also makes most parents’ wish list. This has the author betwixt and twiddling when it appears that the two do not engage equally.
Pew stated that the order of most to least popular, parents ranked the relative importance of each attribute this way: responsibility, hard work, helping others, good manners, independence, creativity, empathy for others, tolerance, persistence, curiosity, obedience and religious faith. In 24 months, where did many of these qualities go for the parents of the children? Do we not see it in the horrendous discourse around a less than subtle presidential election?
When we start to break down the numbers we find fewer than half of college graduates put much emphasis on obedience or religious faith among their children, but regard tolerance, persistence, and curiosity more highly than do parents with less education. Having kids who help others is more important to high-school-educated parents than it is to any other category.
In a society today, that embellishes on the fine art of selfish behavior, rudeness, division, and what is in it for me, their aspirations for their children are a refreshing difference from today’s norm. In a society in such a scramble, we sometimes will fail to remember, we have the indispensable requirement to teach our children well.
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