Money buys happiness, right?

My job is to teach kids math. Just as in all areas of education, we're always striving to find ways to increase the achievement and understanding of each student. In the past several weeks, I've started to question that. Part of it is seeing students' drive to all go to college and major in something that is more than likely, lucrative. Instead, I'd like to see us focus on developing responsible students who can think for themselves instead of blindly following the "college dream."

Another factor is that I've sent my first kid to kindergarten this year. Do I want Viola to learn her colors, basic math facts, and keep up with other kids? Of course I do. But, regardless of whether she's an A or C student, she'll learn these things. She'll learn to read, write, and do basic math. More than anything else, I hope she learns to think for herself, love and respect people, and love Jesus. I seriously hope that's what she gets from us as parents before she leaves the nest. 

I want her to live a life of passion, asking difficult questions and deciding for herself what is important and what isn't. As parents, we're supposed to "raise our children in the way they should go so that when they're older, they won't depart from it." But I think parents have interpreted that to mean "Be a high academic achiever so you can have enough (and hopefully more) money one day."

This exists as such a stark contrast in my head because no one will agree that money is the key to happiness - yet we all act like it. At the end of life, whether religious or not, people will have a greater sense of fulfillment if they've lived a life of passion. A life of giving and helping the less fortunate, raising children, fighting for a cause, and spending quality time with family and friends. 

Our actions and words tell the opposite story. The pressures I feel for my life sounds something like this:

 "Make sure you get all A's so you can get lots of scholarships and go to the best college you can. When you get there, find a major that you like (but not if its not lucrative or in high demand). Graduate from college, work your way up the corporate (lucrative) ladder and sometime along the way, acquire another quarter million dollars of debt in cars and houses and pop out a couple of kids. 

Also, you should indulge yourself by having a boat, motorcycle, timeshare, RV, or cabin. Make sure you've been saving as much as you can though because you want to have a sufficient enough retirement (enough to be as lazy as possible while having as much fun too)."

Clearly this cannot be the one size fits all path for everyone's life. So, for the sake of Viola having an unbiased upbringing, maybe I'll tell her she shouldn't go to college so she has a fighting chance of making her own decision instead of blindly following the crowd.

I'm not against going to college, having a lot of money, or having a motorcycle. I have several of the things I've torn down above. I just don't think its a one size fits all life. I think a lot of people have gotten it wrong and put all their stock in all the wrong places.