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About This Author
My name is Joy, and I love to write.
Why poetry, here? Because poetry uplifts its writer, and if she is lucky enough, her readers, too. Around us, so many objects abound to write about. Once a poet starts with a smallest, most trivial object, he shall discover that his pen will spill out what is most delicate or most majestic hidden inside him. Since the classics sometimes dealt with lofty subjects with a lofty language, a person with poetry in his soul may incline to emulate that. That is understandable. Poetry does that to a person: it enlarges the soul and gives it wings. Yet, to really soar, a poet needs to take off from the ground.
 
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Everyday Canvas
"Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself."
CHARLIE CHAPLIN
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn
anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you.
David Whyte
This is my supplementary blog in which I will post entries written for prompts.
December 29, 2014 at 6:19pm December 29, 2014 at 6:19pm
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Prompt: Where teaching in schools and universities are concerned, shouldn't character be as important as the intellect? Shouldn't students who are otherwise smart and capable be held responsible for the crimes they commit, such as bullying, robbery, rape, and destructiveness, or should we just overlook their crimes because they are so capable?
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The word character comes from an ancient Greek term referring to the indelible marks on coins. In the same way, once character is pressed into a student’s mind or soul, we hope it is fixed for good.
Not always, however. Good and bad aren’t black and white concepts all the time, and when someone we see as good does something bad and out of character, we are shocked. As much as we value a balanced moral stance in people, human psyche is fluid and ever-changing. With that in mind, life lessons as to morality, treatment of others, and responsibility for one’s own actions should be impressed on the student strongly enough that, if a change happens, some values will hold on to save the student from further wrongdoing.
Learning is exhilarating and gratifying, but it is also very hard. By learning here, I don’t mean the subjects taught in schools and books; I mean learning about how to behave in life. For that, students need motivation, self-respect, and good will. If what they do wrong goes unheeded, how are they going to learn to hold on to moral values? How are they going to fix their mistakes, if they are not aware what those mistakes mean in a civilized society?
With the younger, under-age students we can probably practice leniency as to punishment, but the student must be made aware that his actions were wrong, and the educators must make sure that the lesson is well learned, so the mishap or crime won’t be repeated again. At this level, there are accompanying concerns for the students as to their background and home life. These areas need a lot of attention, as well.
On the higher levels of education, however, people are considered to be adults. A responsible adult does not steal, harass, bully, or kill. No matter how great an athlete the student is, no matter how smart and capable with what the curriculum asks, at this level, I believe, the students should face the consequences of their actions like any adult in a civilized society.
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