Children and young people who have not learned to understand their emotions reach adulthood with difficulties in managing relationships, making decisions, or facing personal crises. A generation that does not learn to manage its emotions is more vulnerable: to manipulation, because it does not recognize what it feels; to violence, because it does not know how to channel frustration; and to the inability to build community, because it has not developed empathy. The absence of emotional education is not an isolated problem; it is connected to other social phenomena such as excessive consumption, technological dependence, or even certain forms of emotional and economic debt. The mind is educated, but emotional development is not always accompanied. However, the education system remains trapped in a model that privileges grades over the person. Teachers, in turn, often do not have the necessary tools to address these issues and end up focusing on maintaining discipline, without being able to address the root of the problem. When emotional education is not part of the educational process, classrooms become spaces of silent tension. Or are we willing to build an education that forms complete people, capable of thinking and also of understanding themselves and others? The answer will not only define the future of education but also the course of the society we are building. The author is a writer and environmental consultant. For decades, education has been focused on transmitting academic knowledge: mathematics, science, history, language. An educational system that aspires to incorporate the emotional dimension must accompany its educators, provide them with tools, and recognize that their role goes beyond transmitting content. In essence, emotional education is a bet on the type of society we want to build. It implies a deeper change: teaching students to recognize what they feel, to name their emotions, and to understand that sadness, anger, or frustration are a natural part of life. A society that teaches its children to understand and manage their emotions will be more resilient, more supportive, and more conscious. A community that values empathy and communication will have more tools to face conflicts without falling into violence. The question that remains open is simple but profound: do we want to continue forming generations that know how to memorize data but do not know how to handle what they feel? The lack of spaces to express emotions generates anxiety, demotivation, and, in some cases, a deep feeling of disconnection. However, in this process, a fundamental aspect for life has been left aside: emotional formation. In Panama, as in many countries, schools teach how to add and subtract, to memorize dates and formulas, but they do not teach how to manage frustration, to recognize sadness, or to cultivate empathy. The result is a society that can pass exams but that often becomes disoriented when facing human conflicts. Children and young people spend a large part of their lives in classrooms. In many Panamanian schools, conflicts between students quickly escalate into verbal or physical aggression. There they should not only acquire knowledge but also learn to live together, to communicate, and to understand what they feel. Emotional education cannot depend on temporary projects or the goodwill of some teachers; it must be a structural part of the educational system. Talking about emotional education does not simply mean adding one more subject to the school schedule. It has been built on the idea that forming a person is filling them with information. Success is measured in grades, not in the ability to listen, to work as a team, or to resolve disagreements without resorting to violence. The consequences of this absence are not abstract; they are visible and daily. It involves providing tools to manage conflicts without violence, to listen to the other, and to build relationships based on respect. But it also involves training teachers: you cannot teach what you do not practice. When we do not know how to manage what we feel, we seek quick exits in the external. There are efforts that try to change this reality. However, they remain isolated initiatives, without continuity or solid institutional support. Some pilot programs in public schools have incorporated workshops on coexistence, dynamics of communication, and artistic activities aimed at strengthening emotional expression.
