April 19, 2004
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TOPIC: The following is a letter I wrote to the editors of the New York Times in response to the article published just below…it has currently not been accepted for publication.
To the editor:
The college prep programs discussed in the article,
“How I Spent Summer Vacation,” (April, 18) reflect a
dangerous trend in all of education. Their message to
parents and students is to value grades, resumes, and
the status provided by a schools name, over learning
and life experience. The money spent on these
programs could be better used on truly enriching
programs, such as those that send students abroad to
explore other cultures. Also, the message that
parents must not forget to tell their kids, is that
what they do in college and after are much more
important than the outcomes of the college admissions
process.
-Dan Lilienthal
492 Laurel Road
Rockville Centre, NY 11570
Home phone (516)536-4459
I am currently an instructor for Outward Bound South
Africa, and am writing a book about the need for
progressive education in American schools. I
graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in
May of 2003.
My phone # here in South Africa is 072-388-7329.
Thank you.
Comments (2)
Sounds good, Dan. It’s not even so much what they do in college that matters, but that they are doing something they love and that has meaning to them, not that gives them a competitive resume for a competitive job. The ways in which we learn to work with others are what bring meaning to life, not the ways in which we learn to one-up each other.
Congrats Dan. I have some good articles I’ll dig up for you later.