School
report cards
We’re in the throes of packing up
to move and there’s a lot of giving away and throwing out to be done. I came
across a tattered brown envelope where my dear mother had kept all my school
records. Report cards, music exams, scholar patrol, eisteddfods, first Holy
Communion and even an agricultural certificate – my introduction to
environmental consciousness 54 years ago when I was 10.
It was interesting reading about me
through older eyes. I realised that it was a good education that helped me to
be successful in later life. My marks in maths and science were consistently low,
but when it came to English, music, art, handwork and religious instruction, I
scored pretty well. In high school my English teacher once remarked that I was
good at writing, and that it would take me far one day. But she also lamented
that my spelling was atrocious and begged me to read more.
Recent epigenetic research (a
branch of genetic studies) emphasises the importance of our genetic inheritance
and the influences of our internal
and external environment. Our external environment includes nutrition,
chemicals, toxins etc while the internal environment means neuropeptides
(emotional molecules) and stress hormones. According to Dr Lauren Wilson (read
more about this on www.motherjourney.com) ghosts of
our ancestors live in our DNA and this influence affects not only our
generation, but future generations too. Who and what we are today will be
carbon-copied in some small way onto our grandchildren, great-grandchildren and many, many more generations to come.
Genetics and epigenetics pave the
way for future generations. Parents give their children a good start in life by
instinctive selection of a mate with good genes. They keep their children
healthy with good nutrition. They teach them skills, about life and how to
survive. It’s instinct. Nobody has to tell parents to do this.
Right now, your children won’t
thank you for disciplining them at school and at home to pay attention, do
their homework, respect their teachers and always do the best they can. But
they will thank you one day when they appreciate what you did for them when
they were young. What you do for your children today, they’ll do (even better)
for your grandchildren one day.
