For children as well as grown-ups, a bit of humor, rebellion and unstrung creativity make the other lessons that much easier to absorb.
So many are inspired by Chris' story already but being able to share that other side, give the personal insight and answer all those lingering "Why?" questions, I think makes the lessons that much more thorough and powerful.
And the private sector can help teach another important lesson that was much discussed by the WISE participants: the need to allow a system that is not working to fail.
That was the most valuable lesson she taught me – a lesson that spoke so much, too, about her character as a person.
McChrystal seems to have heeded the same lesson for Afghanistan: that much more can be accomplished when you have the will of the people and they believe your actions are aligned in promoting their interests.
Remember that whatever exposure your child got is good for him or her and making a decision about what he or she wants to do is a lesson in making choices, surely a lesson that is worth much more than the activity itself.
I learned a simple yet important lesson: that bigotry is very much alive and it was naïve of me to think I could be safe from it even in school.
