I have been wanting to write about my concern for the obvious decline of social values as personally experienced and observed in the workplace, even in school and in communities.
A sweep of social media feeds will give you a peek at what matters to most netizens now and the apparent lack of propriety and courtesy based on their posts and exchanges with acquaintances and strangers.
Bashing, bullying and shaming are regulars in the social media menu. Anyone who tries to call out these inappropriate and unacceptable behavior get mugged virtually. Who gives a fuss about netiquette these days?
To me, this is very alarming. What happened to values taught in the home and reinforced by other institutions like the school and church? Why are we suddenly glorifying violence (all forms) and hostile behavior on social media? Where did sensitivity, respect and empathy go?
Basic human values are those that are at the core of our humanity. These are basic inherent values among men that include honesty, truth, love, peace and loyalty. Without these, the fundamental goodness of human beings and society will never be seen and felt.
But I saw a glimmer of hope when I learned that a good friend, Lin-ay sang Negros Vi-anne Cadianza Calipusan shares the same concern as mine and has actually introduced literacy and values formation projects in her hometown, La Castellana in Negros Occidental.
Vi-anne and husband Alex established Uplift Foundation International, a non-profit organization registered in Las Vegas, Nevada and recently launched its Values Advocacy and Literacy Upliftment through Education and Sharing (VALUES) for children in the countryside.
The love batch under the pilot program consists of 60 children ages 6-12 years old who are to undergo 12 literacy and values education sessions.
When asked why they thought of having this advocacy, Vi-anne was quick to answer, “In the advent of technology where everything is at the tip of our fingertips, unfortunately, values and literacy went down the drain. The stark difference between my generation and the present one is so huge that it saddens me. I don’t want my own children to grow in a world where kindness, mercy and sympathy are seemingly extinct”.
Vi-anne who is an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) in the United States shares, it has always been her dream to revive the library in her alma mater, La Castellana Elementary School. That is why when her family came home, they immediately turned over books and other library supplies to the school to enable children to have access to quality reading materials.
VALUES for Children in the Countryside aims to assist children in increasing their literacy, strengthening values formation and boosting their self-confidence.
During the launch on September 18, former Governor Rafael “Lito” Coscolluela lauded the couple for spearheading the program that addresses what he considers an alarming problem on children’s poor literacy and weak values system.
Meanwhile, Rev. Fr. Ricon Dagunan, parish priest and co-chairman of the program expressed happiness over the realization of the project which according to him will never be possible without the overwhelming support of the community.
More than 40 retired and active teachers, young professionals and parish youth make up the pool of volunteers who will be educating children-beneficiaries on the importance of reading and reinforce their reading skills every Sunday. The 12 Articles of Catholic Faith and Filipino values are also integrated in all learning sessions.
The Calipusan couple’s initiative is a very good start for an advocacy that I pray will spread like wildfire as there is an urgent need to educate and re-educate the young about the importance of having the right values and living these values especially in times when more focus is being given on aesthetics and popularity than character and substance.
Teaching kids good values and responsibility is paramount because it helps them think from the perspective of other people, putting themselves in the shoes of others and think less of themselves.
I believe these values are best taught to people while they are young as studies revealed that in the early stages of childhood, kids learn more quickly than at any other time in their lives because these are the years that a child goes through rapid cognitive, social, emotional and physical development.
When children are taught the right values in their formative years, they most likely grow up with strong consistent and positive values which make them happier, perform better in school and become good and productive members of the society.
While literacy is essential to developing a strong sense of well-being among children, having strong reading skills is very important to get them acquainted to good moral values like kindness, humility, courage and compassion at an early age, build their character. All these will form the very core of their being.*
