But, to me, the most important part of Judith’s post was her words following the video. Here they are:

When adults behave badly we snuff out the goodness and innocence of children. Children are sponges. We really must be more careful; children are watching and listening.

How true this is, and I don’t think any child has expressed this better than DeClan Galbraith, when he recorded the following back in 2006. I think he was around 11 years old at the time:

(email subscribers, view on my blog)

As adults, parents, business leaders, teachers, family members, neighbors, government leaders, and just plain “folk”—what are we teaching the children? Really teaching them?

Thank you Judith, for this important message.

• A 2008 study found that high school dropouts cost the American public more than $100 million per year.

• A 2009 study found that one high school dropout in Ohio will cost the state’s taxpayers $200,000 from the time they drop out until they reach age 65.

• Every 29 seconds another American student becomes a dropout. (How many kids dropped out while you were reading your email today?)

• Four out of every 10 young adults (age 16-24) lacking a high school diploma received some type of government assistance in 2001.

• A dropout is more than eight times as likely to be in jail or prison, as a person with at least a high school diploma.

So, we spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year supporting high school dropouts without batting an eye–but we turn out with protests, signs, and marching, when AIG does something stupid.

Even worse than the high cost of our high school dropouts, is how this situation is contributing to the downfall of the United States as the world leader in Innovation. We are losing our best young minds because our educational system is broken and needs to be totally restructured. Trying to prepare students just to score high on their SAT tests no longer works.

Our educational system needs to teach and encourage young minds how to dream, how to visualize, how to question, how to search…and they need to know it is ok to try something and fail. Unless we start to teach “outside the lines” we will continue to lose brilliant young minds that could make a difference in America’s future.

Of course, we cannot put this entire burden on teachers–we need mentors, sponsors, participating businesses, civic leaders, and the like. When school lets out is not when education stops–life is what happens after classes, and it is up to all of us to make sure every young person in our community learns how to use that time to make the best life.

America is no longer the Innovation leader of the world, and I am afraid if we don’t change the way we educate our young people, we will never regain that role.

Any agreement or disagreement–or, is everyone still too worked up over the bailouts and executive parties?