At the center of the educational crisis, which rightly worries everyone, are human processes of change and development. Changes triggered by the progression of history, the destruction of the family and the intrusion of technologies that can colonize the minds and hearts of children. Ethology has been swept away and replaced by an octopus nihilism that can smother with its tentacles any movement that goes in the opposite direction. We can say that ethology is ultimately not very different from a binary doctrine that leads each living being to become what its nature requires of it. But for us humans, things change and become very complicated because, in addition to nature, we are made up of culture and free will, which also give us the possibility of uprooting or derailing this track, which is exactly what happened last forty Years. ‘Years.
A fragile age
The terrible tragedies of the last century, culminating in the Vietnam War, led to a physiological and inviolable rejection of all forms of violence. “Make love, not make war” were the natural consequence of a historical period marked by insane massacres of people. But unfortunately, as we can see today, this rebellion against the violence of war has not produced a pacified world. On the other hand. The demonization of aggression, which varies in degrees between men and women, has deprived men of the opportunity to release it and learn to deal with it through more or less martial games. My generation, myself included, has done nothing but “kill” each other with tin guns in the courtyards of houses, but that doesn’t mean we have become fanatical psychopathic serial killers. The “snowplow parents”, as Massimo Ammaniti defines them, were not yet in sight, disputes between children had to be resolved between children and that was right, because that was humanity’s great training ground. This gym has now disappeared and, moreover, it has no longer been taken into account that childhood is an extremely fragile age and, precisely for this reason, it must be protected from everything that can damage and undermine its balance. In some ways, it’s as if we’ve returned to a primitive time without filters: children see all sorts of horrors and inevitably remain imbued with these images. The predominant male model offered in the audiovisual world is predominantly negative, with aggression, abuse and violence being the norm, plus the widespread use of pornography. Despite the concerns of educators, psychiatrists and conscious people, during these thirty years no one in the world dominated by neoliberalism has had the authority to say, “Enough is enough.”
Keyboard heroes
Therefore, because men are filled with a toxic imagination and are unable to experience the physical dimension that their nature requires, they cannot help but explode or curl up. We should therefore try to give them back a healthy masculinity and give them back the natural dimension of their motor skills. Have we realized that most children are afraid of everything? Heroes on the keyboard, but cowards in front of their bedroom.
Two suggestions
That’s why I have two small suggestions for Education Minister Valditara. The first is to include in the POF (training offer plan) of primary schools the teaching of a martial art – judo, karate or kung fu – which is of course aimed at both boys and girls. In the minds of many, too many, martial arts are seen as a breeding ground for fascists, fanatics and violent people, but the reality is quite the opposite. I can speak about it competently because I have been in the combat world for forty years. When I began practicing in the 1980s, it was not to vent an innate wildness, but rather, at the suggestion of a psychiatrist, to try to resolve a serious psychological disorder that had not yet been diagnosed.
The figure of the master
As I have reached my old age, I can safely say that karate saved my life. In fact, martial arts are extremely therapeutic for children with autism spectrum and behavioral disorders; They are because they push us to reclaim our physical identity, face our limitations and find the courage to overcome them. The success of films like Karate Kid, series like Cobra Kai and that of the adventures of the clumsy and clumsy Po, protagonist of Kung Fu Panda, tell us how much this world fascinates children and young people and meets their inner needs. In martial arts one must pass progressive tests of physical and mental abilities, one learns increasingly complex levels of concentration, and one cannot rebel or defy the master’s figure.
Liberating energy
The second small suggestion is to establish choral singing in primary schools. Singing is part of our nature. Before headphones colonized our ears, everyone sang: people sang while doing manual labor, and we sang until we dropped on school trips. The liberating energy of singing brings balance to the body, makes the shy person more self-confident and dampens the protagonism of the more aggressive person. Since all conservatory graduates are underemployed, finding the right people shouldn’t be difficult. I would like to end with a quote from Rabbi Goldberg, the founder of Kids Kicking Cancer, an organization that has been working in hospitals around the world for twenty years teaching martial arts to children with cancer. The combination of martial arts and illness may seem rather unlikely, but perhaps we forget that awakening inner strength is the best weapon to overcome difficulties in any situation. Isn’t this inner strength what we all need?