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Right choice made for award

The University System of New Hampshire’s Board of Trustees made the right choice when it named the Souhegan High School Ethics Forum and its annual Hosting Young Philosophy Enthusiasts the recipient of its Granite State Award.

The award is given for an outstanding contribution to New Hampshire and we can’t think of a more deserving group.

HYPE hosts an annual student-­run conference that allows students to connect through philosophical discussions has grown during its five years to a point where it converts “discussion and thought into action, organizing fundraisers and events to help the local community.”

Isn’t that something to which we can all aspire? If we use HYPE as an example, it could tell us that open discussion in a forum where ideas are welcome can lead to positive results, even when people have widely divergent views. Discussion doesn’t have to be confrontational, despite what

Congress and Fox News would have us believe.

Discussion can be open, discussion can be passionate, yet not intimidating, and discussion can lead to something greater than concepts.

Just the idea that a high school would have an Ethics Forum is heartening. Certainly we understand the need to teach reading, writing and math –­­ especially at a time in our nation’s history when the art of writing a coherent sentence seems to escape the abilities of so many young people ­­– but there is more to life, and to high school, than just the facts, ma’am. Because not only does writing, and in some cases reading, escape our teens and 20­-somethings, sometimes the concept of right and wrong does, too.

So, let’s cheer on Souhegan, its Ethics Forum, and its HYPE. Good job all around.