EDUCATION MATTERS:Instruction lacks substance, respect

Some years back, a former student dropped in to tell me how his life was going. That's always something I look forward to.

The young man seemed to be enjoying being a 20-something bachelor. After telling me how much he remembered my class, he revealed that he had a new teacher. Someone named Tom Leykis, who has a daily, nationally syndicated radio program.

"When it comes to women, he knows how to handle them," he said.

"Handle them?" I asked. "What does that exactly mean?"

"I mean that he has really good advice about women. You should listen to him, Mr. Kimber."

"OK", I said, "I'll give a listen."

Since then I have occasionally tuned in to Leykis on the way home from work. His program is apparently a very popular one, judging by his repeated references to a seven figure income that he earns. His audience appears to be comprised mostly of young men whose glands hold sway over their brains. Men and women call in to address the day's topic, which is invariably about how women are out to entrap, exploit and enslave unsuspecting men. His advice to all men is to use women for sex and avoid any kind of commitment.

He has a following, and that's a little scary.

After I got a feel for what this man was all about I put him under the same tent with Jerry Springer and Howard Stern and a whole circus of human deviates who have learned that outrage sells big in this country. On that basis he was easily dismissed by me, as easily as I might navigate around the leavings of a dog in a public park. To my dismay, however, I discovered that there is a growing audience for this kind of "entertainment."

So I thought I'd ask the kids in my class if they had heard of this person and about 10 hands, all boys, shot up in the five classes I teach.

"You've actually listened to his program?" I asked.

Heads nodded accompanied by big smiles. A few young men were already learning from Leykis how to hone their skills in using and then discarding women. The man likens his show to a college course and relishes in hearing the "success" stories of the young primates who call in grunting about their sex-without-involvement stories.

In mentioning that Leykis has been married five times, I suggested to the young men in my class that perhaps the man is unable to sustain a relationship with the opposite sex and rather than look within to find out why, he projects his failure onto women in general.