Curriculum for whom?

We began talking about young adolescent growth and development, reminding ourselves about the unique nature of being in that very interesting time of life, ages 10-to-15. Huge physical changes taking place as children literally grow into their skins at a pace that is regular in its overwhelming diversity. But, the physical changes are only the most dramatically visible; changes in cognitive, moral, psychological, and social-emotional realms follow making this five year span quite a ride.

Interesting and more than a bit perplexing why the growth issues of young adolescents are not used more as a rallying center for the curriculum in middle level schools. If this period of dramatic change is so critical to the clientele we serve, then why don't we consider the myriad issues that arise during this time as elements to study, problems to solve, and issues to ponder?

Here are several issues in young adolescent development that could serve as themes for a challenging and relevant curriculum:

• Physical development—study their own health and physical fitness; growth and development, especially during the middle school years; nutrition, diet, and good choices; obesity, the rising epidemic in this country and its influences

• Moral development—universal values and how they work in different cultures; study famous people who are also good role models

• Social-emotional development—bullying and cyberbullying and their roles as instigators, bystanders, or victims; the influence of media on messages about young adolescents

Instead the "standard" curriculum for most young adolescents contains a random set of experiences in the traditional subject areas of language arts, math, science, social studies. Beyond that it is up to individual schools to set the rest of the curriculum...with subjects like art, band, music, foreign language, physical education, and many others.

The question of the decade becomes (or most likely, still remains)...what do we want our young adolescents to know, be able to do, and what kind of dispositions do we want them to have? Filling in this big blank with the names of the traditional subjects is not the answer. My question to you...what is the answer?