Monday Moanin Thoughts #198 Campaign 2016- Not A Good Example For Students

Happy beautiful February Monday Moanin to all of you. With the Presidential  campaign 2016  season in full swing I keep thinking about what is missing in the leadership of our country, communities and in this campaign. I am disappointed and appalled at the rhetoric from all of the candidates from both parties. Over the past several years personal attacks have been levied at Presidents and leaders consistently and there has been a lack of compromise in most of our legislative bodies. There seems to be more energy spent on blocking things than on working together. Campaign 2016 has raised this rhetoric to a new level of disgust. Many candidates are using hateful, divisive,  disrespectful comments and behaviors that are not bringing out the best in them or us.  What’s alarming about this is that our children, students, and learners are watching and listening. How do schools address the issue of being a respectful citizen when they are hearing very little about that during this campaign?  My concern is that in the past few years many school districts have  excluded or minimized Civics courses.  And many states  have even reduced the amount of Social Studies credits  as requirements to graduate from high school. As a result many schools have had to implement their own programs of character education, leadership, empathy, diversity and positive behavior  programs (PBIS) to combat the gaps in curriculum. Schools are criticized often about their  lack of  high expectations and providing  a safe environment for all students, especially regarding bullying behavior. Overall they have a done a better job addressing these challenges and are making positive progress  on  accepting differences and respect for all.  We all want our children to treat others with respect. We want them to grow up to be productive members of society. We need them to be just that.

Now if only our candidates and elected officials will do the same.

Have a great week, lead with hope, and keep finding the good stuff.