Primary Thoughts
Neil Mufson, Head of School
From time to time I come across evidence that what we do at Primary Day has larger implications than I perceived. This weekend I had such an experience as I read a complex piece from the September issue of The Atlantic that at its heart validates the creation of our PDS Values program.
The article was by David Brooks, a writer whose informal beat is the state of the American soul. Entitled “How America Got Mean,” the essay sketches out answers to two questions that have preoccupied him for the better part of a decade: “Why have Americans become so sad?” and “Why have Americans become so mean?” Starting from the belief that “We’re enmeshed in some sort of emotional, relational, and spiritual crisis… [that] undergirds our political dysfunction and the general crisis of our democracy,” Brooks attempts to answer the question “What is going on?”
As Brooks’ narrative courses its way through history, he makes the case that standard “stories” explaining our society’s current dysfunction only go so far. It’s not just technology or demography or sociology or economics. Instead, he hypothesizes that “the most important story about why Americans have become sad and alienated and rude… is also the simplest: We inhabit a society in which people are no longer trained in how to treat others with kindness and consideration. Our society has become one in which people feel licensed to give their selfishness free rein… We live in a society that’s terrible at moral formation.”
Much research has confirmed the neuroplasticity of young children’s brains. As Primary Day students absorb and gain direction from their early learning experiences, powerful results can follow when two of the most important institutions in children’s lives – family and school – work in tandem. That is why families and teachers were integral to the discernment of which values we would emphasize, and it is why together we can make lasting inroads as we mindfully lay the foundation for lives grounded by character, morals, and purpose. Kindness, honesty, empathy, and all the other PDS values are the building blocks of creating a life of meaning and enduring value.
Interestingly, Brooks’ article cited a 2012 paper which found that words used in print and everyday language “related to being virtuous” significantly declined over the course of the 20th century. For instance, the use of the word “bravery” dropped by 65%, “gratitude” by 58%, and “humbleness” by 55%. In 1967 85% of college students reported “they were strongly motivated to develop a ‘meaningful philosophy of life’… By 2015, 82% of students said wealth was their aim.”
Our words and focus matter. Our children can personify and lead the renaissance of kindness, common purpose, unity, and happiness that our society so needs.