What’s a thing you wish schools actually taught?
Character is forged in childhood. We should set children on the right path, so that when they are old, they will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6).
In their early years, children should be taught love—for everything else flows from it. Consider moral integrity: love nurtures self-discipline, respect, obedience, and selflessness.
In Chinese communities, both junior schools and universities use profound mottos to reflect core values such as morality, self-discipline, and societal responsibility. These mottos typically derive from classical Confucian texts, historical milestones, or faith-driven virtues. For example, Tsinghua University champions self-discipline and social commitment with a mandate to “hold the world with virtue”—drawn from the Book of Changes. The University of Hong Kong anchors its values in “manifesting virtue and investigating things,” from The Great Learning. The Chinese University of Hong Kong emphasises learning and self-restraint as the path to virtue, rooted in the Analects of Confucius.
Junior schools, meanwhile, tend to focus on absolute moral integrity, discipline, and community care. Mottos such as “High goodness and righteousness,” “Self-control and helpfulness to others,” and “Be as flawless as beautiful jade, and brave the wind and waves” are commonly used.
Clearly, this teaching philosophy is rooted primarily in moral perfection—for once children hold moral integrity in high regard, they tend to excel in all other areas. Thus, junior schools start with character building, foundational virtue, diligence, and respect, while universities shift toward global contribution and deep academic philosophy.
However, the digital age has flipped the script. Where Scripture once said, “A day is like a thousand years,” we now live as though “a thousand years are like a day.” Speed has overtaken depth, and this relentless pace has turned schools away from their traditional moral-based approach toward task-oriented education. Consequently, we see students’ moral conduct gradually decline, as is evident in the rise of cyberbullying.
My mentee was also a victim of cyberbullying. Yet, having been taught to love, she responded with forgiveness. In one of my daily prompts, I shared the tale of 90-year-old Yu Gong, who insisted on digging away two mountains, shovel by shovel, despite everyone’s disapproval. My mentee echoed my reflection that Yu Gong’s persistence was an act of love—trading his own twilight comfort for the imagined ease of descendants he would never meet. She wrote back: “This is the kind of love you have always taught me—self-discipline, selflessness, kindness, and social responsibility.” I was heartened by her growth.
Building loving relationships takes a long time, yet digital technology advances in a split second. But the old habits of virtue are not easily discarded. Societal energy must be redirected toward raising more children like my mentee, for they are the pillars of our future society.
May the poem below guide us to the path of love, not lust.
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✨Love or Lust✨
In the beginning, human nature is good—this is conscience;
In the beginning, human nature is evil—and sin makes conscience bleed.
Love can cover sin; God is love.
Love gives; lust takes.
Love is patient; lust cannot wait.
Love is selfless; lust serves only self.
Love builds up; lust tears down.
Love is eternal; lust ends when it gains.
What is born of God belongs to love;
What is born of flesh belongs to lust.
The seven passions and six lusts lead man to death;
Love makes life never cease.
In the beginning, good or evil—not for us to decree.
But before the last note fades, life or death, reward or doom—
that choice is left to you and me.
en yan hua fang 