I was watching television one morning this past week and I got tired of the constant arguing on the news shows, so I began surfing the channels in search of something. Anything. I stopped when I got to a station that was showing “Leave it to Beaver.”
For those who don’t know, it’s a 1950s and 1960s sitcom about Theodore (The Beaver) Cleaver and his adventures at home and school. It also portrayed what was seen at that time as the iconic American family, and some have criticized the show for its lack of accuracy. Golly gee, as the Beaver would say, who knew that television had to portray things accurately? Especially in sitcoms.
Back to the story: Beaver had just gotten his report card from school, and he and his mom were discussing his grades. He did pretty well in most of his subjects, but he had a grade or two that wasn’t quite up to the expectations of his mom. Beaver was somewhat disappointed with his mom’s reaction to his grades but perked up when he thought of something. “But mom, look how good I did on the things that don’t count.” He got really good grades in citizenship, cooperation, attitude, and willingness to learn.
That stopped me in my tracks and got me to thinking. Those things The Beaver said didn’t count, well, they count most of all. Without having a willingness to learn, an attitude that allows learning to take place, and the cooperation necessary for the learning process, one can learn nothing. That’s the “you can take a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink” thing in a nutshell. Furthermore, one can make it difficult for others around that person to learn. A disruptor can ruin the learning process for everyone.
Back in the day I went to school (I’ll admit that was some years ago, some of it in Beaver’s heyday), most of these things Beaver was referring to would go under the category of good conduct on the report card we received. What that meant was that you didn’t talk in the classroom, you paid attention to the teacher, didn’t disrupt the process for other people in any way, and didn’t commit the cardinal sin of chewing gum. I’m still trying to figure out why the gum thing was so bad, but if one person got caught chewing gum, the entire class got in trouble. Was that because we were supposed to be tattletales, or was there another reason? That’s one of those unsolved mysteries of life.
Now, I’m sure there is punishment of sorts in today’s schools, but I’m also sure students don’t have to face the prospect of a good paddling. I got a few of those from some of my teachers who are still around (you know who you are), but I don’t ever remember getting one I didn’t deserve. Well, after looking back on it, though at the time I might not have thought that way. Especially for talking in class.
Those teachers who wouldn’t call you out but would write down the number of times they caught you talking, that was sneaky. After the third time the punishment was a paddling. I promise, I would have stopped if you had just given me a couple of warnings before I hit number three. Oh, you gave me a couple of warnings before you started counting. I see how that works now.
Just so you know, I’m not calling for the resumption of corporal punishment, though I did allow my children to be spanked for misbehavior when that was allowed. They were also in trouble when they got home, just as I was, so I considered that to be fair. What I do know is that those things The Beaver said didn’t count do indeed count, and he should have been praised for his good behavior. And I’m certain he was before the show was over, though I didn’t see the end.
We should encourage our children and grandchildren to seek those same qualities, and praise them generously when they do. Those qualities make life better for everyone, whether in or out of school.