Another result of School 2 educational methodology was pointed out to me, the loss of the virtuous woman and the modest man. I owe my life and sanity to a Catholic Nun, who left the nunnery to work in the real world with children. Miss Murphy was a virtuous woman, not just because of her commitments to the church as a nun, but her poise, her speech, her mental aptitude and attitude, all bespoke virtue. Miss Murphy was my principal at Governor Anderson Elementary School, Belfast, Maine, for three years. She remained my friend for another two years, and her example has had a significant influence on me.
My wife, born in 1941, is a virtuous woman. Her strength comes from her mother, who was virtuous, kind, and a bare-knuckle fighter. I love my Mother-in-Law for her scrappiness and her virtues, her kindness, and her focused strength. Her daughter is a softer version of the mother, and both of these women have had a tremendous influence on my life.
I never met my paternal grandfather; my paternal grandmother was a virtuous woman, a nurse, and an influence for good. My maternal grandmother and grandfather were two of the most virtuous and modest people I ever met. Some fond memories exist with both of these incredible people, and I hope I am representing their virtues and modesty appropriately. My maternal great-grandmother was an incredible woman. She was blind, but her clothes were always neat and comely, her house was immaculate, and sure she had some help, but the core was all her.
Where did the virtuous woman and modest man go in society?
They got lost as School 2 progressivism won the contest for educating young minds. As children’s education became the reduction of minds to animal appetites increasingly, virtue and modesty were the first victims. When I went to school, if your underwear was showing, it was considered a crime. I was bullied and got a wedgie, the principal saw my underwear, and I got a two-day suspension and had to write a report on modesty in public and why modesty was important, as a condition to returning to school. Now, underwear is everywhere, virtue and modesty are punchlines in-jokes, and the grandeur and mystery of the human body are belittled and mocked.
School 2 Methodologies:
Education is “… the result of modifiability in the paths of neural conduction. Explanations of even such forms of learning as abstraction and generalization demand of the neurones only growth, excitability, conductivity, and modifiability. The mind is the connection system of man; and learning is the process of connecting. The situation-response formula is adequate to cover learning of any sort, and the influential factors in learning are readiness of the neurones, sequence in time.”
Observations:
I love watching and observing people, children are the best, and little girls are amazing. Why, because little girls live in their own world, interpret their worlds so dynamically different from boys, and ages of girls have distinct differences in understanding the world. Get a group of 4-year old girls together, and they play differently than 5-year old girls, while their worlds can merge the girl’s world always remain separate. But, too often, I see children forced into roles that they are uncomfortable with. For example, little girls need a space of their own to think, consider, play, interpret, and be safe. The girl is often bombarded with stuff that does not allow a safe space, and the little girl grows up insecure.
Little boys need room to roam, expand, explore, and run around. Little boys need this exercise as much as they need air to breathe. Yet, too often, the little boys are losing this room, and in losing the room, lose themselves, and never fully appreciate what it means to be a guy.
Wandering through a clothing store one day, I was shocked, bewildered, and dismayed to see two-piece bikinis for newborns and toddlers. How is a girl to learn her body’s majesty if her every waking moment is spent showing off her body? How is a boy to learn control and respect for his body and a girl’s body when the clothes available are immodest at best?
The lessons of the schoolroom have invaded every aspect of our lives. The reduction of the human spirit to neurologic impulse and animal appetites has robbed little children of the most precious time of their lives, their childhoods!
The time for silence is over. The time for immodesty in public, displayed in verbal explosions of profanity, clothes that do not reflect respect in self, and the mocking of virtue, needs to end. We are not animals, and we are not unrestrained appetites. We are more than the connections of neurons that are turned on and off by a need for sensory gratification. Those who are currently in power can be defeated and deserve to be defeated by realizing that we no longer accept that which has been “educated” into our brains.
I am not asking for high-necked collars and ties to go to the grocery store. I am not claiming women should go back to hoop skirts and corsets. I am encouraging a return to virtues, modesty, and respect first for oneself.
What are virtues?
Virtue, by definition, is the moral excellence of a person. A morally excellent person has a character made-up of virtues valued as useful. Virtue is moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality deemed morally acceptable and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. Personal virtues are characteristics valued as promoting collective and individual greatness. Aristotle provided 12 unique virtues, which we should begin with understanding and acquiring. Aristotle’s 12 virtues:
1) Courage – bravery
2) Temperance – moderation
3) Liberality – the quality of being open to novel ideas and free from prejudice.
4) Magnificence – charisma, style
5) Magnanimity – generosity
6) Ambition – Drive to excel
7) Patience – temperate, calm
8) Friendliness – the quality of being friendly; affability
9) Truthfulness – honesty, candidness
10) Wit – humor, joy
11) Modesty –behavior, manner, or appearance intended to avoid impropriety or indecency
12) Justice – a sense of right/wrong, indignation
Literacy is the power to inspire the mind, grow the soul, and improve the world we live in. Freedom arrives thru and as a result of learning, reading, and questioning. Freedom and liberty grow as our love of literacy increases. The answer to improving democracy everywhere is freeing the minds through reading, writing, and learning.
© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the photos displayed.
DNC-Consulting 