Superintendent’s Chat

Richard McClements, Shonto Preparatory School

What does it mean to be grown up? I would suggest that it means a lot more than just that one has the physical characteristics of an adult. There are several ages: a chronological age (meaning how old we are), a physical age (meaning the medical state of our bodies for the good or the bad), and our psychological age (meaning how old we are mentally). Ideally, we are balanced in all three.

Our chronological age never changes. If we were born on May 11, 1970, we will be 35 years old this coming May. Yet some people never act their age. Some are mature beyond their years, and others never grow up – they keep on making the same mistakes over and over and they do things irrationally and impulsively.

One’s physical age is often correlated to how well we personally take care of our bodies. Those who eat the right foods, exercise regularly, avoid consuming those things that are harmful to the body, such as excessive alcohol, nicotine, narcotics, carbs, or fats, usually have a substantial longevity on those who abuse those items. Recently, I was at Basha’s Grocery Store in Kayenta. Ahead of me in line was a young Navajo mother of 22 or 23 and her child, who was about three-years old. I stared as she placed items on the checkout counter. These items included pizza, corndogs, Kool-Aid, many cans of ravioli, a six-pack of Coca Cola, stringed cheese, and cookies. While this woman is currently quite beautiful, if she keeps up that diet, in just a few years she will be grossly overweight, may have diabetes, and her child will not develop mentally as the key foundation for the brain, protein, is lacking. It seemed apparent to me that this young woman was more interested in not having to cook than she was in feeding herself and child the right kinds of foods – those that took some time and effort to make, and those that have the necessary nutrition.

The last type of age – psychological age, is judged by how well we deport ourselves in the everyday world. We share this earth with other people. A mature person shares, compromises, knows how to deal with disappointment, hardships, or even success. As an adult, I am not expected to throw a tantrum the way a two-year old might.