As you may know, one specific proposal calls for the federal government to provide states with $18 billion in matching awards to allow for free public higher education. Do you strongly favor, somewhat favor, somewhat oppose or strongly oppose this proposal?

Joe Clement has been teaching U.S. government in a Fairfax County high school for 21 years. He is troubled by crumbling student responses since smartphones and other such devices were allowed a few years ago.

Before the invasion of the bright, little screens, his lesson on the Federalist Papers and the birth of political parties invariably “spawned one of the best discussions of the year,” he said. Students dug into not just what happened but also why they formed.

That’s gone, he said, even in honors courses. He still asks how Madison’s vision for minority rights is carried out today. But instead of thoughtful responses connecting the past and today, Clement usually gets non-answers — a Federalist Papers quote with no reference to today or something about modern minority rights with no link to Madison.

“They are good at telling me the who, what, where and when — anything Google can tell them,” Clement said. “The ability to make connections seems to have vanished.”

Clement and another Fairfax County teacher, Matt Miles, are writing a book about this decline in critical thinking as digital technologies grow. They admit they have mostly anecdotal data, but they are certain that brain research eventually will back them up.

They say the free periods that are part of their school schedule have deteriorated from lively talk among students and teachers to silent screen reading, each student in a little world. Online homework assignments are taking twice as long as they would if the student read a paper textbook, because programs are sometimes difficult to load and students cannot resist the temptation to play around on the same devices.

I have discussed parents’ complaints about school-assigned screen time. Some research seems to suggest too much of it reduces achievement. But Clement and Miles have given me the most vivid insights I have gotten so far from teachers. I would like more — my e-mail address is below — both from teachers who like the new devices and those who don’t.

Fairfax County schools spokesman John Torre said district officials think learning and electronics are interacting nicely, and he said data shows test scores are up at the school where these teachers work. “Teachers during classes, and for enrichment and intervention periods, can determine the type of technology and the frequency of use,” he said.

The important thing is not our neighbor....[leading to] a kind of radical loneliness that so many experience today....Loneliness with a fear of commitment.

These little gestures are those we learn at home, in the family; they get lost amid all the other things we do, yet they do make each day different. They are the quiet things done by mothers and grandmothers, by fathers and grandfathers, by children, [by siblings]. They are little signs of tenderness, affection and compassion. Like the warm supper we look forward to at night, the early lunch awaiting someone who gets up early to go to work. Homely gestures. Like a blessing before we go to bed, or a hug after we return from a hard day’s work. Love is shown by little things, by attention to small daily signs which make us feel at home. Faith grows when it is lived and shaped by love. That is why our families, our homes, are true domestic churches. They are the right place for faith to become life, and life to [grow in] faith. 

Jesus tells us not to hold back these little miracles. Instead, he wants us to encourage them, to spread them. He asks us to go through life, our everyday life, encouraging all these little signs of love as signs of his own living and active presence in our world. 

I have immense respect for his Holy One who embraces change, both within the Vatican and globally, and for the Jesuit tradition of education and ministry. Pope Francis, for many people, including me, is a provocative figure. In his speech to the United Nations today he said that economic progress can be achieved through “the legitimate redistribution of economic benefits by the state.” I question his economic logic while admiring his caring heart and good intentions. Far-reaching progress can best be achieved through development not redistribution. The secular proverb “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, but teach him to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime” comes to my mind. Certainly the pontiff’s aspiration to feed the world is honorable, but the people who take the risk to plan the seeds and work hard to harvest the crops are not to blame for the hungers that exist. America is the most charitable nation on earth and our focus for increasing prosperity should be on helping people to fish and farm for a lifetime of financial independence.

It sounds esoteric. It’s something that happens to so few people. But the truth is the entire American system for developing, testing, licensing and paying for drugs is broken. Things like this go on every day with every drug but in a smaller way, and it adds up.

Catholics of the United States, and all you citizens of the United States, you have such a tradition of spiritual generosity, industry, simplicity and sacrifice that you cannot fail to heed this call today for a new enthusiasm and a fresh determination. It is in the joyful simplicity of a life inspired by the Gospel and the Gospel's spirit of fraternal sharing that you will find the best remedy for sour criticism, paralyzing doubt and the temptation to make money the principle means and indeed the very measure of human advancement.


                                                                            - St. Pope John Paul II
                                                                              Stadium, 1979

Jorge Villalba was a construction worker when the housing market began slowing in 2005, so the Glendale resident changed jobs and decided to invest in his future by going to college. [Note: Jorge is one pretty astute guy! He was reading the signs of the times, thinking about providing for his family, and preparing for the future!]

So far, the investment hasn't paid off.

Villalba, 34, owes $158,000 in student loans for his four-year degree in multimedia, 3-D animation and graphic design at ITT Technical Institute. [NOTE: What a great idea! Getting in early on a growth industry!] He isn't earning enough to keep up with the payments, so the amount keeps rising with interest. [NOTE: Yep, that’s how it works. It’s all about making sure you have “positive cash flow” or the debt will grow exponentially.]

He figured he’d get a great job and pay off the loans. [NOTE: Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to work?]

“It hasn’t happened that way,” said Villalba, who is married with two young children but can’t afford to move from their cramped one-bedroom apartment.

I’m looking at 30 to 40 years to pay it off. It’s a huge burden. [NOTE: It sure is, especially with a wife and two children! But note: Jorge isn't asking for a handout. Good for him!]