vision2020@moscow.com: Re: Discipline in the schools
Re: Discipline in the schools
Bert Cross (bcross@uidaho.edu)
Fri, 13 Feb 1998 11:24:22 +0000
In our discussion of discipline in the schools, we seem to have
forgotten the role that parents should play in developing discipline
in their children. Sadly, too many parents are turning this problem
over to the schools. Where does the child learn to respect proper authority
and the rights of others? Don't parents have a tremendous
responsibility in this area? Isn't the home where the basics of discipline
are taught and learned?
And speaking of rights, children do have rights and they know
it. But along with those rights go responsibilities. Where do they
learn those? What kind of models do their parents provide? How
much actual discipline do they have in the home?
How many teachers have to be concerned with the possibility of
an irate parent shouting, "How dare you discipline my kid?" Or,
"How dare you give my kid a bad grade?"
Many parents gripe about the lousy public schools, but are they
willing to accept their own responsibilities to give their children proper
disciplinary guidance?
I could pull the old saw about how "that ain't the way we did it
when I was growing up in the 1920s and 1930s." Well, it ain't the way
we did it. I was taught by my parents to respect my elders and if I got
into trouble in school, I got into worse trouble at home.
But this is not the 1920s or 1930s. Things have changed--in the
home and in the schools. We need new answers to these questions and
we can't expect the schools to do it for us. And simply shuffling around
the school system will not do it for us. It's a problem for the whole of
society.
Bert Cross
1448 Borah Ave.
Moscow, ID 83843
Phone: (208) 882-7660
email: bcross@uidaho.edu
This archive courtesy of:
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This archive courtesy of:
First Step Internet