Evan Ho shares about how STEM programs influence his relationship with his son.
STEM is all the rage. It is widely acknowledged that an education in science, technology, engineering or math can set up someone for gainful employment and career success in the modern economy. I have a son in high school who is aware about this rage. However, he has yet to fully understand my rage. Every time I see the mess in his bedroom and bathroom, swells of anger rise within me.
Clothes are all over the floor, piles of this and that sit on his desk, scraps and oozes of detritus grace the bathroom counter; and around the toilet – well, never mind. This state of affairs has been going on for years. Constant reminders to keep order and cleanliness have not worked. So now I think it’s time for some STEM lessons for him. I think I’ll begin with physics, citing the first of Newton’s Laws of Motion: an object at rest stays at rest.
I will point out that the clothing on the floor will remain exactly where it is unless he moves them it into the drawers and closet. An engineering lesson can involve showing him how the coat hanger, with its specific angles and shape, was designed to suspend a garment, let’s say a hoodie, in mid-air by placing the hook of the hanger over a long, thin cylindrical rod in the closet. What about chemistry, you ask?
I would tell him that the various spots of bacteria growth on surfaces in the bathroom can also be replicated in a controlled laboratory environment with petri dishes. He may even be excited to know that great discoveries are made in chemistry labs to better the lives of human beings. But right now, the gross stains in his bathroom are not bettering my life. Nor is his FEMA-worthy floor and desk.