Living

A popular parenting magazine recently had a little boy on the cover dressed like Steve Jobs in a black turtleneck, wire rim glasses and his hand posed beneath his chin. Cute. Very cute. The cover story was on how to raise genius children.

Who wouldn't want to be the parent of a genius like Steve Jobs? Everybody wants genius kids. Everybody wants gifted kids, smart kids. It's what we're about — being smart.

Smart is good. Smart creates wonderful tools and technologies. Smart discovers treatments and cures for illnesses and diseases. Smart makes our lives easier and more enjoyable in countless flip-of-the-switch ways.

That said, I wonder how popular a magazine would be that had a little girl on the cover wearing a white veil with blue stripes and a headline reading, "How to raise the next Mother Teresa: Ways to cultivate self-sacrifice, mercy, compassion and attune your child to the poor."

Or how about an issue featuring a little boy with a prominent nose, sunken eyes, a stovepipe hat, a fake beard and a headline that reads, "How to raise the next Abe Lincoln: Ten tips for raising children willing to serve country and fellow man to the point of agony, marital acrimony, depression and death."

Right, not real big sellers.

Are we as interested in raising kids that are good as much as we are in raising kids that are smart?

It doesn't seem as though good and decent rate very high on the scale of necessary things when you see another story on teens brawling, the bawdy side of pop culture, or a story on the creative ways students use iPhones to cheat on tests.

It is easy to value smart because smart has the potential to translate into money, a solid income and economic security. Commodities like trustworthiness and conscientiousness translate into, well, you can't put a cash value on them. But that doesn't mean they're worthless. On the contrary, they are priceless: The child that can refrain from outbursts and exercise self-control in the classroom, the young person who leads responsibly, is wholesome, industrious and conducts him or herself with class and dignity are treasures.

Good minds without good hearts lead to devastating consequences. Sharp minds operating without moral restraints have given us punishing financial debacles, elaborate Ponzi schemes and ongoing computer hacking crises.

We need smart, but we need good as well. We need parents as concerned with children's principles and ethics as much as they care about their SATs and GPAs.

In the movie "The Gladiator," Marcus Aurelius sought to teach his son the four chief virtues: wisdom, justice, fortitude and temperance.

How many of our smart kids could write an essay on each of those virtues?

How many of adults could write more than a graph or two on those things?

But more than just write about them, do we strive to live them?

Smart is good, but smart without good, isn't very smart at all.

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(Lori Borgman is a columnist, author and speaker. Contact her at lori@loriborgman.com.)