“You know,” said a woman sitting next to me over dinner, “if you don’t send your kid to a great elementary school, you might as well kiss a good college good-bye.”“Really?” I responded, half listening.“Well, if you send your kid to an average school, whatta ya get?” she said with that pop quiz kind of voice.“An average kid?” I answered.“You got it!” she exclaimed.Now, I’m not sure about her equation: average elementary school = kiss good college good-bye, but there might be something of use in what she said.We all look at the world today and see so much that needs to be changed for the better. The general sense is that, if we’re going to change this world for the better, we should do it top down--adult to adult.Is that another equation: change the adults in power = changes the world for the better?Hmmm ... I started to think ...Maybe, if we parents seek to change our little ones, so that our goal is to raise excellent children by limiting the amount of negativity taught to our kids; by teaching them what to do, when to do it and whom to do it with; by teaching them alternatives to the “violence and over stimulation as entertainment” sensibility; by not teaching them to describe others by the color of their skin and so forth, maybe we can actually alter this “crazy” world.It might be that by changing this generation of little ones so that they seek positive, healthy environments, we can actually shift the world in a more positive direction. By making the standard excellence and by exercising adult self-control, we may be able to raise a generation that demands recognition of the interconnectedness of all things.Change our children, change the world?Hmmm ... “So, where’re you sending your daughter?” my dinner companion asked, shaking me from my thoughts.“Oh, well, does Harvard have an academic program for four year olds?” I said with a touch of kidding in my voice.“I don’t think so,” she said with a laugh.“I guess I need to find a school that teaches our kids how to be excellent people, not just good test takers, eh?” I asked wistfully.Hmmm ...all content The New Parent © 2007