Boarding School for Old Men

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Today, Wednesday, October 16, 2013, at 3:21 pm, I thought I would call my mom to say hi, but then it occurred to me that mom died on October 19, 1990. 

Funny how a grown man of 60 can forget a thing like that.

If the truth be told, I have been thinking about my age a lot lately, mostly in a light-hearted way. So what if I am sixty? I feel like I am 17 most of the time—when I am not running (really half-walking, half-running) or climbing the two flights of stairs to get to my classroom or office or dorm for dorm duty.

I am thinking about my age because I was in a meeting the other day talking about whether students at my boarding school should be granted wireless access to the Internet. I am of the mind that they should have it. The rest of the educated world has it if it wants it, and there might be something that everyone, teachers and students, can learn from having access to the Internet, while teaching (or trying to) what responsible use means.

Then a colleague, several years my junior, made a casual comment about the need to get feedback from younger faculty members. Her idea was, if I understood it rightly, that this feedback might be more beneficial to the discussion about granting young people access to the Internet because it comes from young teachers who have been to college recently and, thus, are more “current” with what the trending needs are for today's college students.

OK. Score a point for the trendy young college grads.

But what about the decades and scores of decades of decisions that were once based on advice from community elders? Is the wisdom of elders even needed anymore? Does it have any value? 

The question in my mind that day was: Are the experiences of older generations useful or valid in today's boarding school community?

Moreover, I wondered: Are younger teachers expected to activate their sensitivities when listening to the advice and contributions of older teachers, or is what is new and trendy the only thing that is important in today’s school culture?

I do not have the answers to these questions, but I do know that I was there, and it felt awkward to listen to a bright, young, future star of the boarding school administrative team pass over the offerings and thoughts of an older teacher in favor of what is new and trendy and current. 

I felt what King David must have felt when he sat back and contemplated his son Absalom’s dreams and aspirations for the new kingdom of Judah. Absalom would intercept anyone who attempted to seek his father’s counsel, and say something like, “You deserve to win your case. It’s too bad the king doesn’t have anyone to hear complaints like yours^. I wish someone would make me the judge around here! I would be fair to everyone.”

And David sat back. I believe he sulked. He really wanted Absalom to rise to the position of king and take over the reins of judge and wise counselor, but to do it with patience and wisdom. Alas, poor Absalom was impatient, insensitive, and selfish. 

Might we learn a lesson from his story?

I loved my mother. I wanted to call her today to say, "Mom. How are you? I love you." I wanted to listen to her wisdom, and I felt a pang in my heart when I realized that I could not call her to check in.