After the butterflies were relocated to long tubes of bridal-veil material, the kids gingerly placed them on sponges filled with honey and water, then took delight as the creatures learned to go to the nectar on their own. Raising children isn't easy either, as we all know. The task becomes even more difficult when we don't give them the education they deserve. We send them off to school every day, hoping for the best but often settling for less. Teachers are usually overworked and underpaid.
Public schools are often overcrowded and underfunded.
We begrudge tax hikes for schooling, then bemoan low test scores. Our concern for education, well intentioned though it may be, has lately manifested itself in an insistence on such standards as test scores or dress codes or class size. But like the tag on a wing of a butterfly, such mandates must be applied gently. There are no stock answers, like wardrobe or testing or size. But there are some universal truths.