Kitchen Catechism: Words of Wisdom
If you educate a boy,
you educate a man.
If you educate a girl,
you educate a family.
And a family passes on what it learns to the next generation.
There was a time in our history when only boys were educated and girls were limited to household chores.
It was a very slow process, through many centuries, that saw the change from girls getting only a very minimal education until today when there is practically no difference between the higher educational expectations of a boy or a girl.
To my generation this evolution is clearly understood because I would have liked to be a doctor but society told me I had to be a nurse. I would have liked to be a lawyer but the highest legal role I could have aspired to was a court reporter.
The difference between my perspective and a young woman’s today was brought to my attention when my eighteen year old granddaughter told me she liked the Catholic Women’s Web Site but didn’t like the Words of Wisdom, “If you educate a boy, you educate a man. If you educate a girl, you educate a family. And a family passes on what it learns to the next generation”.
She thought that meant a woman was only supposed to stay home and work within the family. That a woman should only be educated to teach her family.
But the reality of the message is, the highest resources and best advantages in education should be extended equally to women because a woman’s education is an extremely valuable commodity to a society, they will get more for their buck, like two for the price of one, a bakers dozen plus, plus, plus, etc.,etc.,etc.
And everyone likes a bargain. From generation, to generation is very biblical thinking and mandated on us by the Word of God. It makes us responsible for the environment, for resources and the preservation of all life. It tells us we must protect the truths of our faith. We must keep holy, sacred and unadulterated all that God has made known to us.
We must appreciate all we have received from those who have gone before us and protect and provide for those who will follow.
So I hope the meaning of the message by educating a girl, you educate a family is made clear because there is another very scary saying out there, “a people who do not learn from their history are destined to repeat it.”
