Humility, empathy and growing up
I’ve worked in schools for 40 years. One of the myriad social goods that schools provide is a place where kids can navigate the discomfort that comes with experiencing healthy amounts of shame; where they can practice and hone the development of a moral compass. That job has become increasingly challenging over the years.
While I have no data to back up the following assertion, I would argue that young people are facing several powerful headwinds in the development of that moral compass. In the interest of brevity, they are: social media, capitalism and Trump. Our children today daily witness the shamelessness of a sociopathic president, the shamelessness of a society in which the quest for riches trumps all, and the shamelessness of a hollow populous addicted to attention on their iPhones.
Healthy shame is a powerful force for good. A society that raises a generation of young people who lack such shame is a society in which conscienceless violence, hatred and callousness will prevail.