Can we save our children?

Last August 2005, I was aghast when I chanced upon a feature on CNN showing very young Filipino children imprisoned with hardened criminals. Although I may have heard about this in the past, I did not fully realize its magnitude until I saw the stark reality presented on television.

Our leaders are now tasked with the problem of coping not only with a morally damaged political system, but also a deteriorating social condition that has its roots in our not knowing how to properly raise our children and also poverty.

We all have a duty to fulfill in the proper education of our children. The church and the government can work hand in hand in developing school curricula that teach both the practical and sublime. Perhaps in order are subjects capable of teaching how to make a living and yet interlaced with more input to ensure that not only the body but the soul is nourished.

Today, we witness a breakdown of love, awe, and devotion. These are the very qualities which should now be reinforced in our curricula. Children need to learn to cultivate the reverence for the world and its citizens, and need schools that will develop the more intrinsic qualities of morally upright and decent human beings.

We should teach our children to be proud of who they are so that they grow up to become assets to our country. This can be achieved even through our public schools if the system of education employs the proper approach. We need better-motivated mentors who know when to introduce the proper subjects to a child – in keeping with the development of his/her physical and intellectual capacities.

"Healing Education" is the topic of the coming Kolisko conference that will be held in the Philippines for the first time. This conference was named after Dr. Eugen Kolisko, a school doctor from Stuttgart, Germany whose studies led him to believe that a good education results in a child who is healthy – both morally and intellectually.

His dedication led Dr. Michaela Glockler to organize on his 50th death anniversary the first Kolisko conference. Since then, it has been held every four years. The conference focuses on the diagnostic investigation and therapy of specific characteristics in children. The Kolisko conference has been held in Austria, USA, Finland, France, and Australia and will soon be held in other cities in Asia.

In the Philippines, the Kolisko conference will be held on April 22-28. This project should appeal to teachers, parents, psychologists, doctors, and other medical practitioners. It is a new approach to education aimed at producing holistically equipped and psychologically well-balanced children who will be our future leaders.

Workshops will focus on "Child Development – Health and Illness," "Rhythm in the Life Process – as an Element in Learning," "Child Stress and Temperaments," "Mindful Parenting," "The Role of a Teacher in Child Development," among other topics.

The Kolisko conference is sponsored by the Pedagogical and Medical Section of the Goetheanum in Switzerland in cooperation with the Philippines’ Anthroposophia Wellness Foundation Inc. It is co-sponsored by St. Scholastica’s College and the ABS-CBN Foundation.

For details, call the secretariat c/o Centro Natura, 24 Mahusay St. UP Village, Quezon City, at 928-5386 or cell phone no. 919-3091180. Also call the Anthroposophia Wellness Foundation Inc. (AWFI) head office in Timog Avenue corner Morato Avenue at 412-0224 or 373-4807. Check out the Kolisko website at www.kolisko.netkoliskophil@yahoo.com