For the first time in our history, there are clear signals that the next generation of Americans can expect a lower standard of living than their parents. This sobering reality offers dual opportunities for hand wringing or action toward something better. One potential can be found in addressing our culture's increasing failure to build solid bridges for those transitioning from adolescence to adulthood.
A bridge to a future of hope can come in many forms. A good education, illusive through a 30% national dropout rate and other failings in our public education system, stands as a crucial twenty first century bridge. More money and bureaucratic overlay will not fix our education problems - it is in the relationship between students and teachers and parents that success will be lost or found.
An often-overlooked link to a future comes in the form of physical labor, summer jobs, and afterschool work that historically jump-started generations to a better life. American's today would rather turn over these opportunities to illegal immigrants and leave our children to perfecting their life in cyberspace. An isolated young person, like a goldfish in a small bowl, is artificially restricted in reaching their potentials. In previous generations teens carried a significant share of the nation's manual workload, and we were all the better for it.
There was once a widespread societal belief that contributing to your country was a good thing. National service - a theme that bloomed under the idealism of the sixties, broke apart upon the rocks of Vietnam. The Peace Corp and its domestic partner, Vista, were versions of "peaceful" national service, while the military draft offered the challenging mission of protecting America. This bridge, through the skills, identity, and success models learned in service, uplifted the greater majority of those who participated. We have not served our children by sidestepping the reality that, in a free country, responsibility comes with the opportunities.
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