spacer

Your Donations Count Donate Graphicat the Westside Observer!

Carol Kocivar / On Education

Focus on Education

Children reading

Be good for goodness sake

Bookmark this.

• • • • • • • • December 2024 • • • • • • • •

Iusually give books to my grandchildren to celebrate the holidays. In anticipation of 2025, I am making some strategic choices.

This year, I am considering books about values: truth, kindness, empathy, good choices, equality, and patriotism. Based on the news in the last couple of months, there seems to be some confusion over what these words mean.

The book list contains lessons we all need to learn. Remember, pictures—especially in children’s books— are worth a thousand words.

Tell the Truth
Yes, George, we know. Future presidents cannot tell a lie. 

Make Smart Choices
If our media is full of examples of bad choices, how do we teach our children to make the right ones?

Kindness
Not everyone lives like the top one percent.  

  • The Note Keeper: A mother and daughter flee from danger but are denied entry at the U.S. border, and must find the refugee in charge of “the notebook,” an unofficial ledger of those waiting to cross into the U.S.

Cooperation
What is better? “Us vs Them” or “We” working together?

quotes

Labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, even a vision of the apocalypse, Lord of the Flies is perhaps our most memorable novel about “the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart.”

Bullying
Is it really OK to bully someone with a disability?

Books for Teens: morality and governance

What rights should people have? What happens when freedom of speech is banned? How much power should political leaders have? These books explore challenges we face in creating a good society. All three have been on banned book lists.


  • Lord of the Flies: Labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, even a vision of the apocalypse, Lord of the Flies is perhaps our most memorable novel about “the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart.” Lord of the Flies (1990) ORIGINAL TRAILER


  • 1984: “doublethink, memory hole, unperson, thoughtcrime, Newspeak, Thought Police, Room 101, Big Brother—they’ve all entered the English language as instantly recognizable signs of a nightmare future.  It’s almost impossible to talk about propaganda, surveillance, authoritarian politics, or perversions of truth without dropping a reference to 1984.”1884 trailer

Patriotism
Yes, indeed. These are the times that try men’s souls. 


Equality
Are all men created equal? Let’s try that again. Are all men and women created equal? One more time. Are  people of every race created equal?


What could happen if our children do not learn these important lessons?  These books have been on banned book lists.


Are your children learning these lessons in school?

All of these values should be taught in school. Lest we forget, one of the most important roles of education is to teach our children to be responsible citizens in a democracy. Grandparents are the back-up team to help pass values from one generation to the next.

Happy reading.

 

Carol Kocivar is a children’s advocate and lives in the Westside. Feedback: kocivarATwestsideobserver.com

December 2024


Have Your Say

More Trending Articles



Presto Chango!

Bayview activists

New Docs Reveal Trail of Navy Deception

by Dr. Ahimsa Porter Sumchai

The Navy’s Parcel F Radiological Impaction map was excluded from the Record of Decision of September 2024. Raw data was also excluded from environmental testing for radionuclides.

Check it out

Read More


Another SFMTA Disgrace

Taxi distress

Distressed Cab Drivers Speak Out

by Glenn Rogers

With no limits on the number of ride-share cars on the street undercutting fares, taxi drivers cannot make a living.

Check it out

school closures

Nobody wants to close schools

SFUSD’s Quandry

by Carol Kocivar

An under-enrolled school does not have enough students to offer educational opportunities we want for them in a fiscally responsible way.

Read More

esclalating chart

Escalating power, water & sewer rates

by Steve Lawrence

At present, there is no citizen group concerned with rates paid for water, sewer and power. Few attend or comment to the SFPUC Commission.

Read More ...

West Portal Notebook

Shrine at West Portal Station

SCOTUS’ Homeless Ruling Hits the Streets

by Maura Corkery

Ruling that “cruel and unusual punishment” does not apply to fining, ticketing, or even arresting homeless (even when there are no public shelters available),overturning the 9th Circuit Court.

Check it out