Children, Adults, and School Vouchers

I have spent the better part of forty years teaching about children, conducting research about families and children, writing about marriages, families, and how children thrive. I have also spent time helping people find greater happiness in their marriages and families. I have been privileged to travel in many other countries and have been able to learn how people in several different cultures think about their children. In all of this, as anyone would, I have been able to learn much from others which I now value. I am writing with the hope that what I have learned may benefit others. Here is a case in point.

In the state where I live there is a an election coming up focused on whether parents can use vouchers, paid for by state taxes, to send their children to private schools. It has been an interesting experience to watch and learn. The public schools and some parents oppose the idea thinking it will weaken public schools and their important role in our society. Those in favor of the idea such as parents, some business leaders, and government officials, believe it will add a necessary element in our efforts to improve education. All are working, or believe they are working to help children. Each side promotes their point of view and attempts to discredit the other. Great amounts of money have been spent on both sides. Someone asked my opinion one day and it occurred to me that one of the lessons I have learned from my research and teaching was involved. Here it is. When adults are divided or separated, children usually suffer in some way. At least they do not thrive as well as they could. Where we are attempting to solve educational problems by increasing competition for educational money, we still are not addressing that important issue.

Children do better when parents do their jobs well in preparing children to learn and then cooperate with school personnel to complete the process. Children usually learn more successfully when school personnel cooperate within schools. They even do better when business and government officials cooperate to promote their welfare. The issue about vouchers is probably important for many reasons, but the contest and the way people are treating it probably signals that the division among adults, where children are concerned, is even wider than we would like.

It appears to have risen above the division of parents within families and has now spread to many areas of our society. Regardless of which side wins, our children may not benefit if adults do not recognize the need to unite in their behalf and renew their commitment to ensure their success. This is true all over the world. It is also true in our state.