Sports and values -
order of the day

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor ERIC T. LORETIZO Sports Editor (On Leave) RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

When she addressed the gathering at the World Conference for Curriculum and Instruction at the Manila Hotel on Monday, former Education officer-in-charge Fe Hidalgo expounded on the importance of values and their role in overcoming the social ills troubling the world today.

Hidalgo was one of the speakers at the conference that was attended by hundreds of delegates from various countries and, doubtless, her words made an impact on her fellow educators and even the civil officials present at the assembly.

Another point she stressed was how much education influences the building of a culture of peace, because this generation will have to cope with peace-making, peace-building and peace-keeping, whatever careers or professions they may pursue in the future. The stress on values, however, could not have been stronger. In our society today, we often hear complaints about the lack, or disregard of values not only among the youth, but even among adults, who, sadly enough, should be setting examples for the young.

But what kind of values will children absorb if they see the lack of them in the very people supposed to instill these in them? In our public schools, for instance, our young students have accomplished the feat of qualifying for the World Series of the Little League softball games in the United States. But what had they learned from their elders, as far as values are concerned? The coach and some officials of one team abandoned his players and flew off to the States with his family members and never returned.

This year, another team that had earned the right to represent the Region in Delaware, but its leaders could not get plane tickets for the members because they had not paid for their fares that had been underwritten by a travel agency last year. And so the team members found themselves, as the saying goes, "All dressed up and no place to go." How appalling it is that, while supposedly promoting sportsmanship, these team officials just managed to show the young players their abhorrent lack of values.*