As a student of history, I look at our country's current climate, and I find myself torn. Shockingly to some who may read this, I am not worried about our government. Our nation has had its ups and downs, and I can honestly say that our country has had much worse lows than we are seemingly in now.

What concerns me is our youth and their future. I have spent several years tutoring kids and serving in mentorship programs. All of the kids I work with are great in their own unique and special ways, but at the same time, I become disheartened at times during our interactions. Much of my disheartedness is not directly the kids' fault, but instead, their parents and the schools.

I am in the process of compiling my education policy, some of which I unveiled when I ran for a seat on the Arlington County (Virginia) school board. What you read below inspired the formulation of my policy.

Too many kids today do not know what it means to be active participants in their families. I joked with my mother a few years ago because she was doing yard work. Now, you probably have a perplexed look on your face, but when I was a kid, I did the mass majority of the yard work from the time I was in the 5th grade until I graduated from high school. When I say yard work, I mean all of it: cutting the grass, trimming the pushes, raking and bagging the leaves, cutting down thorn bushes, snow shoveling, and tending to "my mother's" garden (HA!). During that time period, the only time my dad did any of it was when I was away for a church or school activity. It was law that I could not go out on Fridays until the grass was cut: rain was not an excuse. In addition, I also did the majority of the house work. At the time, I hated all of the responsibility that my parents had thrust upon my skrawny shoulders, but as an adult, I truly appreciate it and what it did for my character and self-resiliance.

Too many parents are not giving their children responsibilities around the home; thus, they are not learning how to become responsible citizens. If our children are not taking out the trash, mopping the floor, or cutting the grass in their own homes, how can we expect them to selflessly help others out in society? Parents who continuously do for their children and give them everything they want, and do not make their children do for the home and for themselves, are doing them an extreme disservice because they are unknowingly setting them up for failure when they discover how tough the world really is.

As a tutor, I shake my head every time I am with my kids. I generally tutor math, and when I work with my kids, their only concern is the answer. They are unconcerned about the process. I do my best to explain to them that it is not about the answer, especially if you do not know how to derive the answer. Working with my kids, it appears that they are not taught to be concerned about the process. As I tell my kids, "If you can't tell me how you got the answer, then it's useless to you." Their attitude of only caring about the answer is derivative of their outlook on life: that they only wish to get by and go about life with as little effort as possible. The kids feel as though as long as they have the answer, no matter how they got it, that that is all that matters.

I am also disheartened with the ease in which our schools label our students. All kids learn different, and boys especially, work best when doing: being physically active in their school work. Due to the lack of physical activities in the classroom, many of our boys are getting into slight trouble because of their need to release their stored energy. I have observed that those who release their energy a little more than others are now being labeled with various forms of learning disabilities. Instead of discipling and acclimating to the child, we push the child to the side and tell him that he does not have the ability to learn in school. Why do our schools find it so easy to do this? 

I could go on and on on this subject, but we are not raising tough hard nosed kids as this country traditionally has. Talking tough and being tough are two totally different things. Because we are not giving them responsibilities and teaching them how to work through problems, too many of our kids believe that coasting in life is all they have to do.