Tag Archives: Education

In My Hands Today…

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Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic-and What We Can Do About It – Jennifer Breheny Wallace

In the ever more competitive race to secure the best possible future, today’s students face unprecedented pressure to succeed. They jam-pack their schedules with AP classes, fill every waking hour with resume-padding activities, and even sabotage relationships with friends to “get ahead.” Family incomes and schedules are stretched to the breaking point by tutoring fees and athletic schedules. Yet this drive to optimize performance has only resulted in skyrocketing rates of anxiety, depression, and even self-harm in America’s highest achieving schools. Parents, educators, and community leaders are facing the same how can we teach our kids to strive towards excellence without crushing them?

In Never Enough, award-winning reporter Jennifer Breheny Wallace investigates the deep roots of toxic achievement culture, and finds out what we must do to fight back. Drawing on interviews with families, educators, and an original survey of nearly 6,000 parents, she exposes how the pressure to perform is not a matter of parental choice but baked in to our larger society and spurred by increasing income inequality and dwindling opportunities. As a result, children are increasingly absorbing the message that they have no value outside of their accomplishments, a message that is reinforced by the media and greater culture at large.

Through deep research and interviews with today’s leading child psychologists, Wallace shows what kids need from the adults in the room is not more pressure, but to feel like they matter , and have intrinsic self-worth not contingent upon external achievements. Parents and educators who adopt the language and values of mattering help children see themselves as a valuable contributor to a larger community. And in an ironic twist, kids who receive consistent feedback that they matter no matter what are more likely to have the resilience, self-confidence, and psychological security to thrive.

Packed with memorable stories and offering a powerful toolkit for positive change, Never Enough offers an urgent, humane view of the crisis plaguing today’s teens and a practical framework for how to help.

International Day of Education

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Education is every human being’s fundamental right. And today, as we celebrate the International Day of Education, this couldn’t be more true.

The International Day of Education was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2018 to recognize the role of education in promoting peace, sustainable development, and global citizenship. The choice of January 24th commemorates the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs, in 2015, with Goal 4 specifically focusing on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all.

Despite its undeniable importance, access to quality education remains a pressing global challenge. According to UNESCO, 258 million children and youth are still out of school, and 763 million adults are illiterate. These disparities disproportionately affect girls, minorities, and individuals living in conflict-affected areas. These statistics represent not just numbers, but human lives robbed of the opportunities that education affords. Imagine a world where every child, regardless of their background, has the chance to learn, to dream, and to contribute to the betterment of society. This is the world we must strive for, and education is the bridge that will lead us there.

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Education is not merely the transfer of knowledge; it is a catalyst for societal transformation. It is the key that unlocks doors to opportunities, empowers individuals to realise their full potential, and propels communities towards progress.

Education has the power to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty. It equips individuals with the skills and knowledge needed to secure better economic opportunities, creating a ripple effect that uplifts families and communities. Education is a potent tool in dismantling gender disparities. It empowers girls and women, providing them with the tools to challenge societal norms, pursue careers, and contribute meaningfully to their communities. It nurtures a sense of global citizenship, and instills values of empathy, tolerance, and understanding, fostering a generation that is aware of and engaged with the interconnected world in which we live. In the face of challenges, be they economic downturns or global health crises, educated societies are more resilient. Education equips individuals and communities with problem-solving skills, adaptability, and the ability to navigate uncertainties.

While the International Day of Education is a celebration of progress, it is also an opportunity to acknowledge the challenges that persist in the realm of global education. Despite concerted efforts, millions around the world still face barriers to accessing quality education. These challenges include disparities in access to quality education, both within and between countries. Marginalised communities, rural areas, and conflict zones often face limited educational resources, perpetuating cycles of poverty. While progress has been made in advancing gender equality in education, disparities persist. Girls, particularly in certain regions, may still face barriers to access, including cultural norms, early marriage, and lack of resources. Access alone is not enough; the quality of education is equally crucial. In some regions, even when children have access to schools, the quality of teaching, infrastructure, and learning materials may fall below acceptable standards. The digital revolution has opened new frontiers in education, but a digital divide persists. Not all students have equal access to technology and online learning resources, exacerbating existing inequalities. Global crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have underscored the vulnerability of education systems. Disruptions, whether due to pandemics, conflicts, or natural disasters, can have lasting consequences on the education of millions of children and youth.

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In 2024, children should not have to fight for their right to educate themselves. The power of knowledge should be used to address the challenges of our time. Let us use education to build a world where everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential and contribute to a more just, peaceful, and sustainable future. Every action, however small, can make a difference. Together, we can make education a reality for every child and young person, paving the way for a brighter future for all.

Remember, education is not a luxury; it is a fundamental human right. It is the foundation for a just and equitable society, and it is the key to a sustainable future. Without inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, countries will not succeed in achieving gender equality and breaking the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adults behind.

In My Hands Today…

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The Price of Admission: How America’s Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges — and Who Gets Left Outside the Gates – Daniel Golden

Every spring thousands of middle-class and lower-income high-school seniors learn that they have been rejected by America’s most exclusive colleges. What they may never learn is how many candidates like themselves have been passed over in favor of wealthy white students with lesser credentials—children of alumni, big donors, or celebrities.

In this explosive book, the Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter Daniel Golden argues that America, the so-called land of opportunity, is rapidly becoming an aristocracy in which America’s richest families receive special access to elite higher education—enabling them to give their children even more of a head start. Based on two years of investigative reporting and hundreds of interviews with students, parents, school administrators, and admissions personnel—some of whom risked their jobs to speak to the author—The Price of Admission exposes the corrupt admissions practices that favor the wealthy, the powerful, and the famous.

In The Price of Admission, Golden names names, along with grades and test scores. He reveals how the sons of former vice president Al Gore, one-time Hollywood power broker Michael Ovitz, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist leapt ahead of more deserving applicants at Harvard, Brown, and Princeton. He explores favoritism at the Ivy Leagues, Duke, the University of Virginia, and Notre Dame, among other institutions. He reveals that colleges hold Asian American students to a higher standard than whites; comply with Title IX by giving scholarships to rich women in “patrician sports” like horseback riding, squash, and crew; and repay congressmen for favors by admitting their children. He also reveals that Harvard maintains a “Z-list” for well-connected but underqualified students, who are quietly admitted on the condition that they wait a year to enroll.

The Price of Admission explodes the myth of an American meritocracy—the belief that no matter what your background, if you are smart and diligent enough, you will have access to the nation’s most elite universities. It is must reading not only for parents and students with a personal stake in college admissions, but also for those disturbed by the growing divide between ordinary and privileged Americans.

In My Hands Today…

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Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation – Lynne Truss

In Eats, Shoots & Leaves, former editor Lynne Truss, gravely concerned about our current grammatical state, boldly defends proper punctuation.

She proclaims, in her delightfully urbane, witty, and very English way, that it is time to look at our commas and semicolons and see them as the wonderful and necessary things they are. Using examples from literature, history, neighborhood signage, and her own imagination, Truss shows how meaning is shaped by commas and apostrophes, and the hilarious consequences of punctuation gone awry.

Featuring a foreword by Frank McCourt, and interspersed with a lively history of punctuation from the invention of the question mark in the time of Charlemagne to George Orwell shunning the semicolon, Eats, Shoots & Leaves makes a powerful case for the preservation of proper punctuation.

In My Hands Today…

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Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time – Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Taliban’s backyard

Anyone who despairs of the individual’s power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistan’s treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school.

Over the next decade he built fifty-five schools— especially for girls — that offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth.

As it chronicles Mortenson’s quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists and uncomprehending Americans, Three Cups of Tea combines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit.