A Tribe Called School

1/10/2012

An interesting article in Independent School magazine (Winter 2012) reminds the reader of the social changes engendered by the cyber halls and walls of friends and friends of friends everywhere.  According to the author, the arrival of Facebook in 2004 and Twitter in 2006 demands ever more training and structure, and both are necessary in every school.  Pursuant to the counsel available in recent literature, “parental influence is far more short-lived than had been previously understood and is quickly transcended by peer influence.”  Our youth are deciding that there exists many ways to interpret even our most fundamental home-taught values.  Clearly, this realization has much to do with the frequency of parental decisions to home school.

My almost 20 years in education have convinced me that schools today must reinforce our country’s fundamental beliefs and culture; schools may be our “tribe” of the 21st century.  At Riverside, the learnings acquired in our five programs (academic, JROTC/military, barracks life, co-curricular, and character education) make up the core of our wholistic beliefs (integrity, moral reasoning, sound judgment, leadership skills, etc.) that have characterized a Riverside education for 104 years.  The difference today is that these learnings are delivered in a more deliberate and cadet-centered way.  Moreover, they are reinforced through intentional repetition, the delivery of measured consequences, and personal example.