“Do as I say, not as I do.”\u00a0Do you remember that expression? It’s stuck in my memory from childhood days. Lately it has been popping up in my head because of contradictory news stories and political happenings.\u00a0Maybe it’s because I’m so dismayed at the attention being paid to a dead baseball player.\u00a0Okay, Stan Musial was “the man,” but really?\u00a0 The St. Louis Basilica?\u00a0 Naming a bridge after him?\u00a0Seriously?<\/p>\n

We tell kids to study hard, do well in\u00a0school, get good grades in college and choose a career with strong potential for financial success.\u00a0Or at least choose something worthwhile to advance the progress of human civilization.\u00a0 But then we spend hundreds of dollars to attend sporting events, buy all the apparel and memorabilia and\u00a0practically worship the players who\u00a0make the most touchdowns or hit the most home runs.<\/p>\n

We argue about funding for education and talk about how kids need to learn math and science so America can compete in the global marketplace. But how often to do we have parades honoring a hero of science?\u00a0We not only ignore their amazing successes, we allow politicians with a hidden agenda to bad mouth them in public without so much as a whimper of protest.<\/p>\n

Look at the local news. Sports heroes from tiny tykes on up make it on the big screen.\u00a0Okay, once a year the winner of the national spelling bee also gets a few\u00a0minutes of fame. But really, think about how much air time is given to kids who do well in sports and how little attention the scholars get.\u00a0Obviously this is what the viewers want to see and hear about or the networks wouldn’t send reporters and camera crews out to hobunk high school to interview athletes and their coaches.<\/p>\n

I read recently that one St. Louis area school lets their middle school students out earlier than they used to because most of the middle school teachers are coaches and need to get to the high school for warmups and practice.\u00a0No, I didn’t make this up. And it’s not because I was turned down\u00a0for a\u00a0job teaching history at a local\u00a0high school because I wasn’t able to coach a sport.\u00a0That turned out to be a gift because I\u00a0then landed a job teaching at the college level.<\/p>\n

Don’t you ever wonder about those athletes who travel to so many away games and how they have time to study?\u00a0Or\u00a0maybe\u00a0I’m\u00a0totally out of touch,\u00a0 thinking they should be studying and working toward an academic degree.\u00a0\u00a0 Yes, I know there are some very bright athletes who take their studies seriously.\u00a0Wouldn’t it be of some benefit to younger kids if we honored those student athletes for their scholastic accomplishments as much as we shower them with attention for doing well in sports?\u00a0 Imagine a society where the “heroes” are not just good at running, jumping, hitting something or somebody but are also praised to high heaven for their genius at math and science.\u00a0If this is what we really want young people to aspire to, shouldn’t we offer them chances to see how much we value those pursuits?<\/p>\n

Imagine the parking lot of a local high school overflowing with families coming to watch science in action.\u00a0Imagine booster clubs for math teams and closed circuit TV parties celebrating the winners of scholastic contests.\u00a0Imagine a parade down Market Street for the researcher who breaks the genetic code identifying the most common form of cancer.<\/p>\n

Imagine climate scientists drawing huge crowds eager to learn more about how “Six Degrees Could Change the World” a video produced\u00a0by the National Geographic Society.\u00a0And then imagine those huge crowds demanding that we speed up the shift to renewable energy sources like wind and solar.\u00a0And ending subsidies to Big Oil. And stopping the Keystone Pipeline.<\/p>\n

What do you think the chances are that these things will ever happen?\u00a0 Maybe we’re too far down the path of celebrity intoxication to recover our senses.\u00a0But there was a day when inventors, scientists and geniuses were our heroes and celebrated across the nation, so I know it’s possible.\u00a0There’s probably a lot more to this whole question of our society’s priorities.\u00a0At the very least, we should be honest with our children and\u00a0not \u00a0tell them one thing and do another.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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