Knowledge

  Knowledge…I hate to do it again, but I am about to quote Webster’s dictionary. “Knowledge: the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association; acquaintance with or understanding of a science, art, or technique.” Everyone yearns for knowledge in some way, shape or form. We have all heard the saying that “knowledge is power” or that someone has a “wealth of knowledge” but I say “knowledge isn’t anything without action.”


   Knowledge isn’t worth one red cent without action. Knowledge also needs tools and resources. Knowledge cannot stand alone and make a difference or achieve results. What good is medical knowledge to a brain surgeon if he doesn’t have the tools to perform surgery? No lives are saved simply by his knowledge; instead, he needs his hands and his surgical tools to perform the surgery. A shipbuilder can’t save himself on a deserted island if he has no supplies with which to build. What good is a box of tools if there is no wood to form his craft?

    It seems to me that the youth of our country are facing this reality today. Even with the knowledge that comes through earning a college degree, they still are lacking the tools and resources to make it in today’s world. Without the proper upbringing and morals that a parent should give their children, they will never reach their goals. Today’s society is doing their children an injustice by sending them out into the world without all of the tools they need to make it in the world today. Many parents of yesterday could only dream of sending their children to college, so instead, they gave them a strong work ethic and the moral compass needed to make it in the world. On the opposite end, today’s parents have many resources to financially aid them in sending their children to school, but they lack the drive to be proper parents. It seems that parents would rather be friends to their children than give them the “knowledge” they will need to survive. Just having an education alone, (knowledge??), will not get you through life. You need action, the drive to put your knowledge to use, to excel.

   I hope that we, as a society, can stop this new fad of being our child’s friend and take on the task of being their parent. No amount of reading and writing can substitute for the life knowledge we can share with our children. They depend on us as parents, to show them right from wrong and set an example for them to live by. We need to give our children the knowledge AND the tools they will need to make it in today’s world.