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Essays, Opinion, & Commentary |
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Student Essay
by Jefferson M. Kim
"And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose or forfeit your own soul in the process?" (Luke 19.25) Despite the obvious truths to this profound statement, the public school system teaches nothing on developing the spiritual side of an individual. My high school required me to take one year of physical education, yet had no requirements on exploring my personal faith. Why create a generation that is healthy on the outside yet wastes away on the inside? The high importance placed on the material world rather than the spiritual and emotional well-being of a person starts from a child's conception into the United States. A consumerist economy, as taught through much of media, teaches children to harbor a deep desire for material possessions. There is an immediate training to concern oneself for only the here-and-now. The fast-paced reality of our modern world opposes the possibility of reflecting and exploring the deeper meanings of life. Jiddu Krishnamurti states in Education and the Significance of Life:
Is requiring a public high school student to study a "faith" breaking the first Amendment? The United States first amendment states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . ." (United States). Because the "faith" can be atheism, agnosticism, or any other faith of the student's choice, without any coercion for one particular faith by the government, there is no preferred treatment toward one religion or another. The student has perfect free will in exploring what he/she personally believes in. The focus is not necessarily on a particular religion, but an in-depth exploration of one's personal faith and philosophy for life. A student will feel uncomfortable at first and may dislike being forced to explore their personal faith, but how many students are eager to learn about the trigonometric properties of a triangle? With the national drop out rate at 10.9% of those between 16 and 24 years and with only 64.6% of Hispanics obtaining a high school diploma (Kaufman, iii), those in the harsh realities of the world would better benefit from greater knowledge of their personal faith rather than the correct form of a five-paragraph essay. In addition, students worry about more things today than ever before, including drugs, teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, gang violence, and violence at home. Having a class at school to explore the more significant issues of life would be a great relief from the hectic and mundane realities of the world. Moreover, before expecting students to be fully contributing members to society, students must first have a solid foundation within their self-identity and fulfillment. A change with the world must begin with the individual. As Johann Wolfgang von Goethe states, "One can be instructed in society, one is inspired only in solitude" (BrainyQuote). Requiring students to explore one's personal faith implies that a student would have to learn to take some time out of their life to simply think. In today's modern society, we have forgotten what it means to take some time out for reflection over the day and the direction one's life is heading towards. When the United States ranks 46th in the World's Happiness Survey (Nriol), we have to wonder why there is such unhappiness in one of the world's most affluent nations. Obviously, material wealth is not a determining factor toward the fulfillment of a person. Exploring one's personal faith would force students to also explore their source of ultimate happiness. Another concept taught through exploring one's personal faith is critical thinking. Paulo Freire states that, "In problem-posing education, men develop their power to perceive critically the way they exist in the world with which and in which they find themselves; they come to see the world not as a static reality, but as a reality in process, in transformation" (Freire, 364). By sending students to truly explore "the way they exist," it will force them to think objectively and critically at themselves. Not only will the student better understand their personal faith, but will also expose areas of weaknesses within themselves that they will try strengthen. Imagine an entire generation striving to better their character, rather than focused on obtaining more material wealth. There would be a drastic drop in crime, greater unity in families, and astronomical rates in volunteerism. The world would not be the same. Furthermore, the process would teach students to critically think about the world in which they live. As Freire states that students would "see the world not as a static reality, but as a reality in process, in transformation" (Freire, 364). What many high school students lack is their ability to see the world for what it is, and even as adults, are often fooled by the popular media into believing that the world will continue to remain the haven of opportunities that will forever support everyone's material desires. Once students begin reflecting, they will begin to realize the fragile state the world is. A sense of urgency and desire will be embedded toward improving the situation of the world and humanity rather than solely striving for personal gain. Yet this process does not stop with simply thinking without action. The high school education system equips student with knowledge and tools, but does not take the extra step of using the skills ethically. Exploring a personal faith would naturally result in authentic action, as Paulo Freire states that the students ". . . reflect simultaneously on themselves and the world without dichotomizing this reflection from action, and thus establish an authentic form of thought and action" (Freire, 364). With the awareness of the world's desperate condition, and the knowledge and skills obtained through conventional education, students would be powerful world changers. The generation of lazy, television couch potatoes would change into an army of eco-concerned humanitarian activists. Within the classroom, an assignment where all students in a high school were bonded in their search for truth would create an impenetrable environment of critical thinking. This atmosphere would naturally flow into every classroom in the school and critical thinking would become the norm for all subjects. The performing arts would overflow with creative musicians. The sciences would be flooded with students eagerly curious of the workings of the world. The humanities would brim with enthusiastic poets. High schools would no longer be characterized with apathetic adolescents, but with passionate seekers of truth. Expanding toward the benefits for the entire school, the requirement would force students to interact with people around them on a deeper level than superficialities. Looking back at my four years in high school, I regret not spending more time discussing personal faith with my friends at lunch table. There were countless days when my friends and I would make bad puns or see how we could hide or even alter someone's lunch while they were not looking by adding extra salt or other unsettling ingredients. Compared to other tables, however, our antics were innocent and nondestructive. Many other tables would discuss who would lose their virginity first, the next time to smoke pot, or, more commonly, contemplate methods of ruining a fellow student's reputation through gossip. Having a common assignment of faith to discuss could open much more beneficial conversations amongst students and add flavor toward the shallowness of daily conversation. Likewise, students need to learn to communicate personal problems. Often students feel isolated with their problems, leaving a sense of abandonment and desperation, even when many people are willing to help. Having an assignment forcing students to study and communicate their personal faith would make the small step toward discussing personal problems manageable and natural. Depression and other emotional sicknesses may be predominately wiped out with a generation comfortable communicating and listening to each other's problems. Perhaps the greatest benefit of forcing students to explore their faith in a world, where "-isms" infiltrates nearly every thought process, is the awakening of a student toward the universality of the assignment. A student would begin to see beyond the race, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, and see that the search for a deeper significance for life relates to all of humanity. The student would see past the surface barriers and realize the underlying, deep common trait all of humanity shares. This search for truth is also not limited in scope of time. The search for truth of faith permeates all of humanity since the beginning of its existence. Students would gain the scope of not only unity in the high school and nation, but also unity with all of humanity of the past, present, and future. The United States needs to give the freedom to all high school students to study their personal faith in order to revitalize the compassionate and critical thinking our society lacks. But how does one go about instigating such a visionary plan in today's high school where the single mention of religion is instantly silenced? The movement has to start within us first. We have to personally know and experience the benefits of exploring our own faith, and then we can share the benefits with others. Take a couple minutes a day to reflect on the direction your life is going. Are you going where your faith directs you or where society programmed you? Are you doing what makes you fulfilled or do you sense emptiness within? These questions disturb most people, but until we are willing to critically evaluate ourselves on these important questions despite the discomfort, society will continue its highway toward ignorance and desperation. How can we expect a society to change around us, when we refuse to change ourselves? As William Drayton states, "Change starts when someone sees the next step" (BrainyQuote). Let us take time out from our lives and begin envisioning the next steps for a loving humanity.
References and Citations BrainyQuote. 13 Dec. 2002. http://www.brainyquote.com. Freire, Paulo. "The Banking Concept of Education." Pedagogy of the Oppressed. 1970, 1973. Kaufman, P., Martha N. Alt, and Christopher D. Chapman. U.S. Department of Education: National Center for Educational Statistics. Dropout Rates in the United States: 2000. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2001. Krishnamurti, Jiddu. Education and the Significance of Life. New York: 1953. Life Application Study Bible. New Living Translation. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1996. Nriol. Indians Are The Fifth Happiest - World Happiness Survey. 1999. 13 Dec. 2002. http://www.nriol.com/content/articles/article1.html. United States. U.S. Constitution. 13 Dec. 2002. http://www.law.emory.edu/FEDERAL/usconst.html.
About the Author Jefferson M. Kim was born on July 14, 1983, in Seattle, Washington to South Korean immigrants. Kim went to high school at Shorewood High school in Shoreline, WA, and currently attends the University of Washington, where he is studying for a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Religion and Psychology. Kim expects to be a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force after graduation through the Reserve Officer Training Corps at the University of Washington and plans to go into full time ministry and obtain a Masters of Divinity after retiring from service. He can be contacted at jefferson@zionem.org. |
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