Ownership

Anyone who’s been in the military knows what clean means. There are no degrees of clean. A thing is either clean or it’s not clean because… when you clean it, you own it.  And when you own something you take pride in what it is that you own. You watch it, you care for it, and you let no one abuse it or take it for granted.

It’s sort of like walking on the grass at a military installation or Georgia Military College. By not walking on the grass you show respect for that particular area or ground. One would never step on a grave or the grass at our National Cemetery at Arlington, Virginia, out of respect for those whose remains are symbolic of the gift they gave to our country, their lives. Each American feels an ownership for Arlington and therefore treads respectfully when they visit.

This idea works for our schools as well when the importance of an education is instilled in our children. They in many ways, receive ownership of their school. From that point on the issue of clean becomes one of how clean, for that is how our schools will look. Can you imagine students showing up on their days off to plant and mow? It is possible and happens each year at schools where the students feel a sense of ownership. People will not desecrate that which they respect and own. One can travel the states and see clean schools and schools that are not clean. Do you wonder why? Hold on to your recliner…for it’s simple, something called pride in ownership. If you took fifty children, told them their school “belonged” to them and they were responsible for it being clean, dirty, nurturing, or a source of deprivation, what would they choose? Hopefully they would choose the obvious.

Years ago my wife used to say to our daughter, “books are our friends”. Oh, how that child would protect her books, read them, place them carefully on a shelf or mantle, talk about them. “Books are our friends”, my wife would say. And from that simple phrase, Whitney assumed ownership of her books and cared for them as she would a pet. Today she is a librarian who believes the students at GMC can find a “friend” in a book. Sadly, reading a book and learning is not seen as a friendly activity to many of our children. So, what happened?

Well, we failed to show those in school that reading a book was better than watching a movie or playing a video game. We didn’t sell it…you might say. And… our schools became places on the outskirts of town, with little landscaping, metal detectors and “just the basics”, not objects of admiration and affection. For those little ones still at home and searching for a “friend”… there was always a television. So what’s ol’ Newt talking about when he recommends that our children be given the opportunity to help keep their school clean? Simply, he’s trying to get folks to see that ownership in a school helps students see the importance of education and cleaning a bathroom, mopping a hall or taking out the trash, gives them ownership. 

Unfortunately for many public school children there will be many reasons given why they will not be allowed to take ownership of their schools. Among these are; The children we have been busy not raising will refuse to work.The bathroom is a dangerous place. “My child, not on your life!” It’s beneath our children’s’ dignity to clean up after themselves. “I don’t know nothing bout cleanin no bathroom” “That’s the janitor’s job.”Ownership...it means a great deal.