CEBU, Philippines - “What do you want to be when you grow up?” is one question that a child is often confronted with upon learning to talk. The question sows in the child a kind of hankering to eventually be ‘something’. And it’s a good thing for the child to have.

Fortunately, the human race has invented a system for guiding its young to “get there from here.” The school system is intended to teach young people the skills and train them to deal with the various challenges in the life ahead. Education also makes them better understand themselves and the world.

Perhaps no parents would question the necessity of education for their kids. At the same time, no parents would deny having gone through an emotional moment watching the kids leave for their first day of school. Parents worry about how their little ones would do in the presence of other kids – without them, the parents, around.

Sending the child to school is like passing the torch of knowledge from parent to teacher. Such an enormous transfer of responsibility to an external, unknown force can be incredibly tough for all – parents, children and teachers. But why is it necessary?

It is important to help children understand why they have to go to school. It does not work to simply tell the child, “You need to go to school because I say so!” Without a deep sense of purpose and understanding as to why they are sitting in class, discussing people and events of centuries past, it is extremely difficult to motivate most kids to stay interested.

It’s true that when parents send their tiny children off to kindergarten school, the act may not have the semblance of a career preparation. Maybe all that the parents want is for the kids to learn a few polite words like “please” and “thank you,” and some good manners. And then they make the kids stick to school from there – until the kids become fully prepared for life beyond school.

Inspirational speakers encourage students to dream bigger dreams, reach for the stars, picture where the young ones want to be in ten years from now and then chart the course to get there. And students begin to envision where they want to be. The message they get: “If you want to get what you want, crack open the books and get down to business!”

These days, education mostly means having a career. The preparation starts the moment parents ask their child, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” But having a career – becoming a pilot or an engineer or a nurse or a doctor or a teacher – is no guarantee of a full life.

It shall be part of parents’ and teachers’ responsibilities to help children find out what will truly make them (the children) happy in life. When the kids’ personal inclinations emerge, these should be pursued and the kids assisted to choose the line of study that best fits their individual lines of interests. Most of all, forming a moral and ethical code shall be at the foundation of whatever profession they choose.

School is not just about learning how to make the next “best mousetrap.” School is about knowing how to make a genuine difference in the world. It is the place where to tame the wiles of the human instinct.

School must equip its students with the tools to defend against the bombardment of temptation through mind-over-heart worldliness.

Every child is a unique individual and should be treated as such. Schools should be working with parents to provide a unique opportunity to match each schoolchild with the opportunities needed to reach his or her full potential. Sending children to school should not be like passing on the torch of knowledge from parents to teachers – it should be like parents lighting the torch of teachers while keeping their own.

Education is not something that young children get at school and then they return home. Education is a self-enhancing experience that the kids get at home, and then at school and vice versa. No school can give a child the character that is not nurtured at home. (FREEMAN)