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Through the years, the many, many years, I have heard scores of people tell others, especially the young, that their school days are the best days of one’s life.

Even some write about those “best days.” Well, God bless ’em.

Looking back on my own school days, I’d have to say at the best it was a mixed bag. There were some good experiences. Some not so good.

Courses, classes I enjoyed were two history classes with Herb Carlton. He went on to become a very respected and popular teacher at East Carolina.

Then there was the choral music program, under the direction of Charlie Stevens. The large chorus, Mixed Ensemble, Boys Glee Club, Girls Glee Club, Boys Quartet, Girls Quartet. Some for credit, some simply extra curricula. All wonderful. Plus, I enjoyed my English classes, naturally. I had little aptitude for the maths and sciences. My brain wasn’t wired for that.

Of course, I had friends in school. Good friends. Some became life-long friends. Sadly, too many have received their final promotion.

What some, many, perhaps, tend to forget or repress, are the worries, the stresses, the challenges, the disappointments that can seem so important during one’s adolescence. That stage of life can be an emotional landscape all its own.

Being an adolescent in the yesteryears, in each succeeding generation, carried with it difficulties. Differences, sure, but challenging nonetheless.

Today’s adolescents? It would be hard to overstate the degree and extent of just what they are up against.

Think opioids, the ubiquity of this evil. Sex. That is, how suggestively, sometimes blatantly, pornography is in music videos; in music alone, especially some genres; the way some dress so provocatively. And, well, you know. Plus depression. Suicidal thoughts. Can you even imagine such not so very long ago? Nor do I think the self-righteous, or even well-meaning people should be empowered to act as culture police.

What then can be done? Surely there must be some way to turn things around at least a bit, while adhering to first amendment safeguards.

I’ll be darned if I know the solution, though.

One would think the family has a role to play. I hesitate to say the church, for I fear churches would insist on imposing their own inflexible views, with little willingness to seek common ground. Especially one side.

The entertainment industry might well be the most powerful force to at least voluntarily change the pervasive crass culture.

 

However, as we know, they are making such massive amounts of money in purveying that which many of us find objectionable, or at least in poor taste. Not going to happen.

I’m just not smart enough to know what if anything will work. Far from it. Alas.