Like many of you, my eyes have been glued to the State Capitol as the current situation for educational funding continues. It’s awesome to see so many folks engaged in the political process and exercising their civic rights. We all need to do more of this. The majority of folks attending OKC are fighting for the future of student success. Hoping additional funding would allow more opportunities, resources, and an overall improved school experience to create a better pathway for students to succeed. I’m all for student success and definitely wouldn’t be where I am at today if it wasn’t for the help and guidance of so many teachers in my life. However, as I was sitting down to eat lunch today, an underlying subject emerged even bigger than the one currently seen on Lincoln Boulevard. It is seldom noticed, but desperately needs our society’s attention.
(Photo credits: Christian Favalora)
As I was eating my lunch at a restaurant today, I overheard two small lower elementary students eating lunch with their grandma. I overheard them talking about the walkout and the current situation. Soon their food would arrive from the kitchen. The one little boy quickly grabbed his chicken strip dinner and took one big bite. Within seconds, he blurted out the Lord’s Name as a cuss word at the top of lungs. You could feel the entire restaurant come to a pause. When hearing this, the grandma and sister looked at the child, smiled and simply continued eating without even addressing the issue. My heart broke. I hated hearing this even from a small child who just didn’t know better.
I’ll be the first to tell you I’m not a perfect Christian by no means, but as a society we have become numbed to a cultural moral decay. This little boy had to have picked it up from someone older. Who knows? But as the fight for student success continues, we must realize we can have all the money, all the funding, and all the resources for a student to succeed, but without a moral compass or a call to correction, we are all hopelessly bankrupt. What we do will be modeled by those who look up to us and are watching intently. One of the best ways to rear someone is by painting a picture that is clearly contrary to their wrongdoing.
As these coming days unfold, let’s continue to be in support of student success, both educationally and morally. Setting the example for them to follow and impacting a generation to be more, have more, behave more, and most importantly, live for more. Thanks for reading!
#OklahomaWalkout #StudentSuccess #LiveForMore
Brandon Baumgarten 