Education

Sliding into an abyss
By MICHAEL COREN

Sometimes we in the media merely play a game, making little ripples at the side of the water rather than diving right in to make an almighty splash.

In other words, we run around the edge of various problems and debates but are afraid to shine light on the authentic dilemmas of our age.

Whether it's politics, economics, culture or morality, the culture, society and various pundits always assume that things are getting better -- that we're making progress and that what we have and what is to come is superior to what was.

Problem is, it's mostly nonsense.

If anything, North American society is slipping into the abyss as the years go by.

Yet if any of us point to the past and argue that just half a century ago the world was more civilized, gentle, kind and moral we are dismissed --at best -- as nostalgic cranks. Facts, however, are more significant than abuse.

A few examples: Those much-despised 1950s were, we are told, oppressive, confining and prudish. Yet since then the teenage suicide in North America has increased by 5,000%, which is a figure so extraordinary that some of you probably think it a misprint. No, five times one thousand. The allegedly dark days of half-a-century ago seldom saw young Canadians and Americans try to, and often succeed, in killing themselves. Not now.

In 1958 a broad cross-section of school principals was asked what were the five most challenging problems they faced in dealing with students. The answers were as follows: Not doing homework; not respecting property, such as throwing books; leaving lights and/or doors and windows open; throwing spitballs in class; running in the halls.

In 1988 the same question was put to a similar group of teachers. This time the answers were a little different: Children having abortions; young people infected with AIDS; incidents of rape; widespread use of soft and increasingly hard drugs; a fear of murders and guns and knives in class.

We were told in the 1960s that the almost universal availability of the contraceptive pill and condoms would liberate women, increase marital happiness and lead to sexual fulfillment. In fact there has been a steady increase in so-called unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, divorce and the use of antidepressants.

Rather than empowering women, contraceptives have had the opposite effect and are used by men to have sexual intercourse without responsibility.

Every serious survey reveals that young girls today feel far more pressured to reluctantly agree to sex than their mothers and grandmothers did 20 and 40 years ago.

More children are raised by single parents now than was thought remotely possible by even the most pessimistic analysts 35 years ago. And those children fortunate enough to have both parents in the home see their fathers -- and especially their mothers -- substantially less often than was the norm in the '50s and '60s.

In schools we spend more money than ever before but genuine literacy levels have declined to such an extent that university teachers now complain that student essays are indecipherable. We abolished uniforms so that children could express their individuality and they dress in identical baggy pants and baseball caps.

The great writer G.K. Chesterton referred to the democracy of the dead. Listen to the past a little, it's amazing the wisdom and common sense you might hear.