Growing up in Hackensack, the seat of Bergen County, in the 1940s and ‘50s, I grew into manhood by being a Boy Scout and joining the YMCA. Both of these are Christian organizations, as I belonged to Troop 105 at Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in my hometown while also a student at its parochial school.

My foundation as a youngster was based on Judeo-Christian ethics, morals and values. My parents were active Catholics in the church. I grew up in a two-parent home, my mother raising the kids (my brother, sister and me) while my father worked as a real estate broker with offices in nearby Ridgefield Park.

These family ties and religious influences shaped my life: My character, values and philosophy. I evolved into a journalist, author and historian, having gone to Rutgers University in Newark on a newspaper scholarship from the North Jersey Herald News, while also working as a reporter and columnist.

My multi-media career began in 1959 at The Herald News  at the age of 21. Prior to that I studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan, where one of my classmates was Robert Redford and my roommate was Mark Goddard, one of the stars of the TV sci-fi classic, Lost in Space.

Today, we live in a different world from the one in which I grew up in Hackensack and its environs. In those days, divorce was rare and becoming pregnant in high school was a “sin.”

Today, America’s divorce rate is 50 percent or more, and pregnancy (having a baby out of wedlock) is considered a badge of honor, even for 14 year old girls.

What happened between the 1940s and ‘50s and today’s generation?

The wild and irresponsible 1960s’ Sexual and Cultural Revolution. It was all about freedom and doing anything and everything you wanted, without consequences.

Hence, no responsibility or accountability for one’s actions.

Freedom without responsibility is anarchy, or mob rule. Crime rates soared, while divorce and illegitimacy rates hit unprecedented heights.

As a result, government got involved in the raising of children, whether through public subsidies or special programs for broken families and broken kids. The cost to society is in the multi-billions-of dollars annually.

America’s Welfare State exploded during the 1960s and later decades.

How to fix it?

Through proper, common-sense education.

Public education is free from kindergarten through high school. But public education has changed dramatically over the past 40 years. Public education has become politically correct. Government has taken over the classroom and forced teachers to discuss such issues as sex, condoms, drugs and all the sensationalism of the dysfunctional 1960s.

My wife, Jeanne, taught 5^th grade and 3^rd grade for 25 years in public schools in Dumont, Bergen County, and Eatontown, Monmouth County, where we lived for 35 years.

When Jeanne started teaching in Dumont in 1961, there was old-fashioned discipline in the classroom. If a student misbehaved, they were sent to the principal’s office for a reprimand, detention or expulsion, depending on the degree of behavior.

Fast forward to the 1990s, when my wife was teaching 3^rd grade in Eatontown.

More and more students were out of control, came from broken homes and were dependent on government subsidies.

Example: When a young boy in her class was misbehaving, my wife told him to go to the principal’s office. On the way out of the classroom, he said, “F--- you!”

The principal did not reprimand the youngster for fear of being branded a “racist.”

There are too many sad and unbelievable stories coming out of our public education system to put into this limited column. The ending is inevitable: My wife retired at the age of 60 after putting in her 25 years in the classroom. She could no longer deal with the deterioration of the public school system.

Unless America deals with the politically correct liberal conditions in our public schools, the decline of public education will continue.

The solution?

Go back to teaching the ABCs of education: Reading, writing and arithmetic enhanced by today’s modern computers and the Internet.

We must make Respect, Responsibility and Family Values the top priorities in the educational process.

We don’t need more government bureaucracy at a staggering cost to society. We need more people to become good parents and “role models” for their children. 

Gordon Bishop, a “Who’s Who in America” national award-winning author, historian and syndicated columnist, is the recipient of 8 Congressional Commendations and New Jersey’s first “Journalist-of-the-Year” – 1986/New Jersey Press Association.