In Times of Crisis, let us Preserve Our Values

The Corona Virus has given us a rude awakening and caused us to examine our lives with a fine tooth comb. It has forced us to come to terms with the loss of thousands of lives, extended periods of physical isolation, huge financial losses, and disruption to children’s education and learning. Even before this crisis, we had so many difficulties and struggles to overcome: poverty, inadequate healthcare, climate change, intolerance due to religious fundamentalism, and racial inequality. We have been subjected to many hardships, and at times, total chaos.

The Covid-19 crisis has brought out the best in us and sometimes, the worst. Many volunteers across the globe have given of themselves to assist others: Many citizens of countries all over the world have fed the needy, found clothing and shelter for others, volunteered their time and energy to distribute meals. Children have donated time and pocket money to contribute to the welfare of many. Some leaders have shown empathy and understanding. Others have not.

We have drawn solace from such religious leaders as Pope Francis and listened to encouragement and advice from world leaders. President Barack Obama delivered a commencement speech to a virtual community of 20,000 high school students with a message of “hope and responsibility”. He asked students to do what is right and not what is easy and convenient.

Sadly, other individuals and groups who have ulterior motives have begun to use children to spread wild stories and false narratives even at a time of great distress. A group in Canada has chosen these adverse times to promote a distorted view of Sri Lanka to maintain a false account of the history and occurrences in the country. To our great dismay and sadness, they have introduced a bill in Ontario to celebrate the proscribed criminal group known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, not for just one day, but for a whole week in May each year! Is this for real? These remnants of the violent, and in the words of the FBI, “the most dangerous group of terrorists in the world” are raising their ugly heads again.

They are trying to teach innocent children a plethora of lies about what happened during an almost 30-year insurrection by the LTTE, a ruthless group of terrorists. They call it genocide. Wrong! It was one rebel group, the LTTE who killed their own kind and then some. The security forces in Sri Lanka had to fight this rebel group and rescue the innocent people of all ethnicity. Up to this day, Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim and other citizens live together in communities in ALL areas of Sri Lanka. How is that genocide?

As teachers, how do we handle the challenge of using these crises as opportunities for educating our children? Now, more than ever, we need to strike a balance between cultivating academics and developing a foundation for life-long learning. These are not opposing ideas but a cohesive process which encompasses character education. One important factor is to teach children to discriminate between truth and fake news.

Character education enables students to focus on such ethical values as respect, responsibility,

trustworthiness, fairness, empathy and many other good codes of behavior. Although all religions include these values in schools and communities, non-religious schools and institutions also have a responsibility to embrace these ideas and include them in their curriculum. These core values help a society to function as a civilized community. They encourage pro-social behavior and promote good leadership in a country.

Let us promote:

Trustworthiness

-deals with honesty. It is to speak the truth, to be reliable, and it means not to blame others for your mistakes.

Fairness-

means to treat people the way you want to be treated. In every religion, it is practiced as “The Golden Rule”.

Respect-

is to treat everyone with dignity. It is to be courteous, to be polite, and value the person.

It also means to abide by the rules of your family, the school, and society.

Responsibility-is to take your job or undertaking seriously and do it to the best of your ability.

It also means not blaming others for your mistakes.

Empathy-

is to be sensitive to the feelings of others, to feel their pain. These may involve your desire to help people in need, and never to be mean or hurtful.

Citizenship-

is to care about your community and serve it. Citizenship encourages you to stand for justice, to protect, and stand up for those who are bullied or intimidated. Citizenship also deals with caring for the environment and our planet.

We need to instill these values in our children. We need to stop the attempts of some, to spread hate and misinformation. We need to be diligent to monitor acts of hatred and malice by national and international groups who are only interested in financial gain. By masquerading as freedom fighters and do-gooders, these predators consistently lead astray, young and vulnerable children along a path of hatred and hostility. This is wrong.

Let’s speak up with one voice! Enough is enough! In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr,

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”

Ms. Chandra Fernando

Educational Consultant, USA