让最好的活下去
“I set the education of character 和 virtue at least as high among our obligations as the preparation of intellect for a lifetime of self-education.——乔赛亚·邦廷三世
这种“休假,给了我反思的天赋, the luxury of staying current on national 和 world events, 灵命成长, 还有时间学习上下文的微妙之处.
我更关注军校. Military education 和 training fascinate me…from a childhood admiration of West Point (my father was a career Army officer), watching the Coast Guard train in Yorktown as a high school student, 担任服务学院院长, to ultimately leading a private military boarding school.
这些学校融合了雅典和斯巴达的精华. 他们注重智力的发展, 身体健康, 和 character development…interconnecting those three like str和s of triple braided line; each str和 adding strength to the whole. Anyone who properly develops 和 balances mind, body, 和 spirit will be a success story.
服兵役改变了我的生活. 大学毕业后, 海岸警卫队抓住了一个冲动的机会, 好奇的, 和 rebellious young man who sought to “change the world.”
很快地, the Coast Guard taught me to “influence the world around me” by first learning the system’s rules, 在这些限制范围内工作, 和 then (和 only then) challenging regulations that needed to be changed along the way…和 rewarded that thoughtful initiative.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could teach those same lessons to high school students?
I believe this transformation is only possible when the rules are clear, consistent, 和 intentional. 在我们当前的文化中, where a recent Wall Street Journal article suggested that young men who might otherwise be working are instead being drawn into immersive virtual worlds, I’m thinking more parents should give military high schools a chance.
Private 和 charter military high schools are places young men 和 women go to learn timeless values, 和 live a disciplined lifestyle without the inherent risk or obligated service of active duty. America’s accredited military high schools are the envy of other countries, which visit to learn how America takes a diverse cross-section of young people 和 organizes them around a common set of values in a hierarchical system.
Few today want to admit that young people struggle in the absence of structure, 限制, 明确的指导. Clear lanes stimulate growth, 和 the absence of those lanes creates chaos 和 confusion.
在军事学校的熔炉和避难所, 牢固的关系是建立起来的, 和 become enduring bonds of brotherhood 和 sisterhood. At the military high school I led, we discouraged the use of smartphones 和 video games. 我告诉我妹妹，对我们来说，“社交媒体”
referred to the park benches lining our main campus circle. 每次课间休息, 每顿饭后, students filled these benches for real eye-to-eye human interaction, 没有电子干扰.
Most boarding schools require their students to be independent, but few offer the rigor of a military school…building grit, 弹性, 持久性, 和韧性. 有专门的每日计划, 早晨和晚上的队形, students quickly learn how to be where they are supposed to be, 当他们应该在那里的时候. They learn to be accounted for 和 to be accountable.
军校让好人变得更好, 和 those who might otherwise w和er afar are offered incentives to stay on the right path. As Superintendent of the United States Coast Guard Academy, 我看到了同样的思想转变, body, 我在一所军事高中所见证的精神.
我们的世界充满了混乱和混乱, yet these schools are places where stability 和 order exist side-by-side with creativity, 领导, 和热情. Today’s private 和 charter military schools are safe places to learn the best aspects of military service, yet many of these schools seem to be struggling with decreasing enrollment 和 aging infrastructure.
While recent news about closures 和 governance issues at these schools is disconcerting, throughout the history of military high schools 和 colleges, 许多学校关闭了，而其他学校却在发展. One encouraging sign is that “charter schools” using the military model seem to be increasing. 作为一个国家, we need to take a good look at why the boarding schools are struggling, 这样我们才能扭转局势.
America needs these schools as options for students who are at their best with certainty 和 clarity, 和 as preparation for our nation’s service academies 和 military colleges. 如果我们不小心, military schools will no longer be around when we find we need them the most, 哪一个才是真正的悲哀. 学生们把这个故事讲得最好:
“我在这里获得的机会是不真实的. I learned how to follow, I learned how to lead, 和 those 领导 skills will translate anywhere.——卡尔弗学院学员
“It was here that I learned to carry myself like a man should carry himself, 并为我的行为承担责任, 和 appreciate everything 和 everyone around me as valuable 和 unique.——福克联合军事学院学员
So, let’s work together to keep the best of these schools in business.
海军少将布尔霍正在休假, having recently served as President of the Association of Military Colleges 和 Schools (AMCSUS). He was the 10th President of Fork Union Military Academy in Fork Union, VA, 和 the 39th Superintendent of the United States Coast Guard Academy 和 may be reached at j.斯科特.burhoe@gmail.com
