NEW ZEALAND OPINION

Parents in need of lessons, too

The good old days is an expression often used ironically. Wages were lower, times were tougher, diseases were more prevalent and more deadly.

However, an area where the old days were probably better is juvenile behaviour.
Part of the reason could be due to the fact that a lack of money made alcopop-fuelled rampages impossible and “P” and “E” didn't exist.
Nor did turbo-charged Jap imports, come to think of it, making it impossible to become a boy racer.
But, that aside, manners and respect were a normal part of daily life, unlike today where gangs of hoodie-wearing, swearing, drunks prowl through our cities at night terrorising, and often assaulting, innocent citizens.

So the Education Ministry — the same people who brought us the NCEA — has proposed values be taught in our schools. Nice thought, and while classes in integrity, excellence and respect could be a small step towards changing young people's thinking, if they are getting different messages from parents before and after school, are they likely to make much of a difference? And for those pupils who have parents who do care, and who are taught about fairness, social justice and human rights in their homes, then time that would be better spent on English, Maths and Geography will be wasted.
The problem is a parental one, and apart from requiring a licence to reproduce, it is going to be a tough nut to crack.
One Hawke's Bay high school recently encouraged the parents of trouble-makers to sit in on classes so they could see the disruption caused by their anti-social offspring. It worked so well one parent enrolled for an adult-education class.
However, not all poor parents will want to be reformed, or feel that they have failings that are in need of correction. Finding a solution that will make the children of such parents into well-socialised, caring, respectful young people who believe in equity, community and integrity is not going to be done purely through the efforts of already overburdened teachers.

Paul Taggart
19 August 2005

http://www.hbtoday.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3648930&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=

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