September 15: What Does It Mean to Educate in a Changing Mexico?

 

September 15: What Does It Mean to Educate in a Changing Mexico?

At this time of year, we talk about independence, freedom, and what it means to be Mexican.

Perhaps it is also a good time to ask ourselves what we are building for the generations to come.

We live in an era in which a mobile phone, an Internet connection, an educational platform, or an Artificial Intelligence tool can become an extraordinary source of learning—or a distraction, a dependency, or even a way of limiting personal development.

But perhaps the problem does not lie solely in the tool itself.

A tool does not make decisions for us.

Technology can expand the possibilities of a person who wants to learn, research, create, solve problems, discover other cultures, participate in competitions, develop a skill, or discover a vocation. There are children and young people who have reached national and international stages precisely by using technological resources to develop what they know and what they are capable of doing.

So perhaps the question should not simply be:

“Is technology good or bad for our children?”

Maybe we should ask:

“What are we teaching them to do with it?”

The answer has a great deal to do with something that no platform can automatically install: ethics.

The Internet has no intention of its own.

Artificial Intelligence is a tool; ethical responsibility belongs to the person who uses it.

Responsibility ultimately lies with the people who use these tools.

That is why talking about digital education should not mean simply learning how to use an application. It means learning how to distinguish, research, question, create, respect, protect ourselves, recognize limits, and take responsibility for the consequences of what we do in the digital environment.

And this involves all of us.

Families need real opportunities to develop digital literacy and support their children without having to become technology specialists.

Teachers need time to do what no platform can replace: observe their students, listen to them, guide them, awaken their curiosity, and accompany them throughout their learning processes.

Institutions can also ask themselves how much valuable teacher time is being devoted to administrative tasks that could be handled by other professional roles, allowing educational time to return to the center of the learning process.

And so does society as a whole.

Because we cannot ask younger generations to learn respect if they constantly see adults discrediting one another.

We cannot ask them to build bridges while we build barriers.

We cannot demand that they avoid division if, in everyday life, we teach them to categorize one another by age, gender, economic status, place of origin, way of thinking, language, possessions, or beliefs.

Mexico is much greater than our differences.

It is also the language someone preserves within their community.

It is the girl or boy who discovers a passion for science.

It is the young person who uses the Internet to learn something that is not available in their immediate environment.

It is the student who learns in a traditional classroom and the one who learns from home.

It is the person who cares for an animal, protects a tree, understands their territory, or discovers a new way to solve a problem within their community.

It is our biodiversity, our cultures, our communities, and also our ability to create.

Of course, children should continue to have the opportunity to be children. Technology does not need to occupy every minute of their childhood. Play, physical activity, human connection, nature, conversation, and reading remain fundamental.

But we do not need to fear the future in order to protect childhood.

We need to accompany it.

In-person education and online education do not have to be enemies. They can complement one another when there is purpose, structure, guidance, and responsibility.

A screen does not replace a person.

A platform does not replace a teacher.

An Artificial Intelligence tool does not replace thinking.

And no technological resource can replace the development of values.

What technology can do is help us use our time more effectively, expand access to knowledge, and open possibilities that were once beyond the reach of many people.

Perhaps the issue is not about choosing between “traditional” and “digital.”

It is about learning how to make the most of both worlds.

And in that learning process, adults also have a responsibility.

The younger generations do not need us to leave them a perfect world. They need us to leave them better tools to understand it, care for it, and participate in it.

This September 15, in addition to remembering our history, we might ask ourselves what kind of country we want to pass on to those who come after us.

A country that continues to find reasons to divide itself.

Or a country capable of recognizing that we can think differently and still work toward something we share.

Because being Mexican can also mean this:

learning together, caring for what we have, respecting our differences, and preparing those who come after us to build a future we cannot yet imagine.

Independence can also remind us of a responsibility:

the freedom to learn, the responsibility to choose, and the commitment to use our knowledge to build, not to divide.

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