In my previous article called the Dark Secret About Education, I used four of my five steps (from a coaching process I call successful living )to focus on the need to reform our educational system. This article will complete my discussion.

Believe in Positive Power.

We can revitalize the whole educational system by more study of an emphasis on ethics, logic, philosophy, religions, the arts, sciences, and a greater awareness of the power of positive thinking. Our educators could start by teaching young people, The Five Steps To Successful Living.

Above all else, young people should be given more opportunity to creatively discuss, and become involved in solving current social problems. We need more programs like the Olympics of the Mind, for example.

Our country can benefit from inspired adults who sponsor projects that provide rewards to our youth for trying to resolve our great social challenges: the environment, crime, racism, violence, substance abuse, obesity, poverty, incarceration, rehabilitation, and even terrorism.

We also need to believe that our educational system can and will involve parents once again in a collaborative effort to educate our young people, and model acceptable social behaviors.

Parents may have to be held responsible for keeping their kids in school, and for teaching appropriate social values, preventative healthcare and positive mental attitudes.

Parents who leave their children alone all day to watch television, or let them wander the streets unsupervised, or abuse, or neglect them, could be held accountable by our society.

They might be encouraged to pay for the social treatment programs necessary to make up for the deficiency in their parenting skills.

To this end, our juvenile court system with high recidivism rates and antiquated laws, (encouraging the reunification of abused and neglected children with parents who are damaged mentally, emotionally, and socially), all need more reassessment and renovation. The courts must hold families accountable for child abuse, neglect, and criminal behavior.

We should hold the educational and juvenile court system accountable for providing the necessary treatment and support services necessary to salvage children, who are damaged by the bad decisions and self-destructive behaviors of their parents.

I believe parenting is not a right, it is a privilege. I think our culture should protect the rights of children to be safe from harmful parents as much as the legal systems protects the rights of all adults.

If necessary, pass a new constitutional amendment to guarantee our children legal protection from damaged parents who sexually, physically, or emotional abuse them.

We can't afford to wait any longer for improvements in the educational system. Our dark secret says," Leave it alone; somebody else can fix it."

We need to face the social problems of today, not deny them, or believe we are too busy to resolve them. We can act now to do something positive about these problems.

Let us begin by expressing our feelings, both negative and positive about our educational crisis. We can start using positive thinking to develop a meaningful plan of action.

The only thing that can try to hold us back or our country back is the dark secret of fear. The negative side whispers in our ears: "Nothing better can be done at this time." But the only power fear has is the influence we give it by avoidance, denial, despair, anger, depression, guilt, and shame.

The Five Steps also shouts in our other ear a more positive message: Begin by facing the dark secret, release the negative feelings, and replace them with positive emotions and good thoughts. Actually, we can solve any problem if we devout our total creative energy to finding the right solutions. Which voice will influence you today?

About the Author

Mr. Eby is a Master Social Worker with more than 30 years of professional experience. He is the author of Challenging Your Dark Secret. He currently works as a therapist and counselor for Options of Southern Oregon, the local mental health agency. He has also provided online life coaching services on eBay for many years. Visit his site at http://www.challengedarksecret.com