海角大神

In the West our kids get snow days, while in Pakistan schools must close due to Taliban terrorism, Malala Yousafzai, the 16-year-old girl shot in the head by the Taliban for speaking out for girls鈥� to be allowed to go to school in Pakistan, makes this situation more tangible for American parents as she tours the US promoting her book with the message 鈥渆ducation is the power terrorists fear most.鈥�

That message should concern parents as education systems in the West fail under freedom鈥檚 flag.听SAT scores continue decline; 57 percent of incoming freshmen not ready for college, the AP reported earlier this month. Here in Norfolk, Virginia 33 of our 45 schools, 78 percentage, have failed to make full accreditation this year due to abysmal standardized test scores.

This is something I am passionate about not only because my kids鈥� schools here are failing, but because I have a friend, a woman, who runs a large school in Pakistan. I won鈥檛 name her, the city, or school for safety reasons.

We met five years ago when she contacted me about permission to use a peace fable I鈥檇 written to combat terrorism, 鈥淭he Mouse and the Light鈥� as a project with her students. They were turning it into the school play after reading it on MidEastWeb where it was posted by a fan in English, Arabic, and other languages spoken in the Middle East.

We became friends and she鈥檚 kept me in the Facebook loop as she struggles to keep her students from being snatched by Taliban forces looking for little soldiers as they try and make their way to the classroom.

Over the years her students have written letters to mine detailing their love of learning. I think their passion for education began with their parents and teachers, but was intensified by all the days their school had to close due to terrorism.

Malala鈥檚 story has given me a clear picture of what my friend has had to live with as an educator.

"Exactly 12 months ago, Malala Yousafzai was in the back of an open truck on the way home from school when a Taliban gunman asked for her by name and shot her in the head," according to The Telegraph of London.

Malala is the youngest ever to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, for her efforts to bring attention to the struggle for women's rights in her homeland.

This week she was on "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart talking about the fact that the experience has not stopped her from spreading the word globally that the way to fight terrorism is not with violence but with education.

Most stories about Malala take time to lament failing education systems, poor standardized test scores, and student apathy and compare this young girl's dedication with learning to her often lackluster counterparts in other nations' classrooms.

The Telegraph in London ran the headline, "Malala Yousafzai's desire to learn shames our schools."

Malala assuaged our parental guilt by telling "The Daily Show鈥檚" Jon Stewart, 鈥淲e are human beings and this is the part of our human nature that we don鈥檛 appreciate the importance of anything until it is snatched from our hand.鈥�

The teen is touring the United States to promote her new autobiography, "I am Malala."听听

鈥淚n Pakistan when we were stopped from going to school, at that time, I realized that education is very important and education is the power for women. And that鈥檚 why the terrorists are afraid of education. They don鈥檛 want women to get education because then women will become more powerful,鈥� Malala told Mr. Stewart.

I want to take a moment to praise both Malala's father, Ziauddin Yousafza for instilling the value of education in his daughter and all the struggling educators in Pakistan and other areas where the Taliban hampers education.

Malala told the BBC about how the Taliban changed education in her valley, 鈥淚n the month of January 2009, they said that no girl is allowed to go to school. And at that time I said, 鈥榃hy should we be silent? Why don鈥檛 we speak up for our rights? Why don鈥檛 we tell the world what is happening in Swat.鈥� And I did not want Swat to be a next Afghanistan.鈥�

As parents and educators we read all this and are left wondering if there is a way to motivate students that doesn鈥檛 involve being on the Taliban hit list.

Malala鈥檚 story is a powerful one. Maybe we need to reinstitute bedtime stories for our teens and talk about this one tonight, together.