School Days, School Days, Good Old Golden Rule Days

By Mary Grace Musuneggi

Oh how education has changed from the early 1900’s when that tune was popular!

With the kids now back in school for some weeks, the local roads are filled with yellow school buses. The concept of busing escaped me as I was one of those kids who walked to school…both ways…three miles…uphill…in the snow…or something like that.

Back in the good old days, a parent’s biggest fear was having to spend time helping with “the new math,” “penmanship” and “times tables.”  “Reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmatic” were the mainstay of the curriculum.

But today the course of study runs the gamut of social and economic issues, as well as educational. Security guards walk the halls, and controversial programs like the No Child Left Behind Act, charter schools, common core standards, and home schooling are topics for discussion.

As a former Language Arts teacher, I have noticed the skill of letter-writing and knowledge of punctuation and spelling have been overtaken by email and spellcheck. And verbal skills have been somehow lost, “ya know.” I recently heard a newscaster describe a “pitcher” hanging on the wall while I was driving by a “congradulations” sign on a billboard and a “please set down” sign in a local restaurant.

But in all its forms, from the little red school house to the home school to the campus-like atmosphere of our local high school, education is still the foundation for our future and that of our children. With a good education, we give them the tools they need to grow up, find a good job, buy a house, have a family, and hopefully not come back to live with us when it is time for us to retire.

A good education is the basis for making our children strong, law-abiding members of our community. And it’s still the process for teaching them “The Golden Rule.”

So here’s to the parents, the students, the bus drivers, the teachers and all who make the education system work. As the expression goes, “If you can read this…thank a teacher.”