By Beth Ku
To our representatives:
It is so sad to see vandalism, smashing, and looting spread across our neighborhood—and the country. Drug dealing is worse than ever. Please consider making some positive changes that will build a civilized and harmonious society.
Take Japan. It is one of the most successful countries in teaching education in civility from daycare to primary school to middle school. This foundation is extremely helpful in building up a good, safe, harmonious society, with much less crime.
Once, I saw children between the ages of 6 and 13 vandalizing public bicycles on the street—and laughing triumphantly. On the news, I see teenage gangs robbing vehicles—which is shocking! You also may have experienced that quite a few students are dissatisfied with society. All such incidents teach us our schools badly need to provide education in civility!
What is an education in civility?
It is more important than anything else for our students to learn to develop a kind human nature, a sense of responsibility and morality, and to respect each other. This is the way for people to achieve self-discipline and social harmony and fairness—and a peaceful world! Without an education in civility, we will face endless violence, fighting, crimes, and war.
How does it work?
All teachers need to have training in psychological counseling in order to illuminate and take good care of all students with a mission, so students can develop spiritually and grow in healthy ways. Teachers must be able to provide comfort and calm. One example of therapy for students might be: gardening and caring for animals—these help release stress.
An education in civility must start from the foundation: from daycare through high school.
One basic principle is to maintain order. A healthy, clean environment for children must be emphasized.
Encourage children to learn personal hygiene and basic self-sufficiency skills, such as washing their hands before eating and after toileting, and other good personal hygiene habits to minimize disease. Teaching them to put toys, books, and other items in separate categories makes it easy to find them and creates a well-organized personal space. Encourage them to keep furniture and the floor clean and tidy by sharing responsibility with you. Encourage them to learn the basics of healthy cooking to strengthen their ability to live well independently.
Develop a relationship of mutual respect.
Learn to be polite with children, so they will respond accordingly. Respect them so they will show respect and care for and help each other. Improve language skills by asking for their opinions and listening carefully—this is the best technique for good communication. Harmful wording is always the cause of conflict and fighting. Adults and teachers should avoid this at all costs. Stay calm, stay kind, and be a nice person with children, always.
Involve children in financial responsibilities.
Provide children with allowances and give them a say in how the household is run. Consider asking everyone for a vote on how household matters are conducted.
As a household, reserve money for the future, and share with your children your planning—and respect their input. Having a plan is better than no plan.
Educate about drugs.
Encourage children to understand the harmful effects of drugs, which will destroy their own lives and family! Use education and storytelling. Ask children to share and ask questions—and listen carefully. This way they will stay away from drugs and stay healthy, have good emotional control, and enjoy a healthy life.
Be accountable for your own behavior.
Make sure that you are respecting and complying with all laws and rules and are responsible for your own personal behavior. This way, children will follow your example. We don’t want any more graffiti which destroys our property.
Environmental education from the beginning.
Early on, encourage children to understand how people dispose of trash generated by human beings and to respect the earth as a resource. Encourage them to join in the management of trash that minimizes the usage of plastic bags, paper, and other waste. Include games with them about how to reduce waste, including the reusing of old furniture, appliances, and especially how to save water and energy in order to minimize harm to the environment.
Emergency preparedness.
Also consider involving children in discussions about facing earthquakes, fire hazards, and flooding. Beyond just practicing drills, encourage them to acquire basic knowledge by themselves and share it with the group to minimize accident injury.
Providing housing and schooling to children in need.
Since there are always some children who need help due to family or other issues, please consider supporting every single child when there is a need with reasonable housing and facilities for them to enjoy a healthy life and to be able to take part in studies like others. We need all students to stay healthy and be able to focus on learning, rather than simply survival.
Without an education in civility, there can be no social justice, no sense of fairness, no public morality, no respect for others and for the environment. There will only be more fighting and more crimes.
Thank you for your kind attention. Please work out a good, healthy, safe society for our young generation as well as everyone.