Should schools teach children morals?
Would you trust a school to teach your children morals? Please note this is from the Daily Mail so the headline of the article seems to have absolutely nothing to do with the body of the article. ;P
Busy parents are 'relying on schools to teach
Working parents are relying on schools to teach children about morals because they are too busy to do it themselves, a teachers’ leader claimed yesterday.
Andy Waters, chairman of the Society of Heads, said schools were increasingly required to act as ‘moral arbiters for children’s upbringing’.
He said ‘beleaguered’ working parents depended on schools to look after their children from dawn until dusk, including providing them with breakfasts and evening meals.
But Mr Waters, who runs Kingsley School, an independent Methodist school in Bideford, Devon, cautioned fellow heads against criticising ‘lacklustre’ parenting. He said it was important to support parents, many of whom were working to help pay school fees.
He said: ‘If our role is not to support the children from such families, then what is it?’
Paraphrasing a 20th-century U.S. religious leader, William Boetcker, he said: ‘You cannot help little men (the children) by tearing down big men (the parents) – we are all in this together.’
His comments came amid evidence that growing numbers of parents are sending young children to boarding schools because they are cheaper than hiring a full-time nanny.
The number of youngsters aged seven to 13 who board at prep schools has risen 5.8 per cent on last year to 13,945.
Mr Waters, whose school admits day and boarding pupils, admitted to having had ‘delicate moments with parents’.
He said it came as ‘more and more responsibility falls on schools to be the moral arbiters for children’s upbringing, and our often beleaguered parents need us to provide wrap-around care, breakfasts and evening meals, homework clubs and extra-curricular activities so that they can work the hours needed to earn the wherewithal to pay school fees’.
Addressing the Society of Heads annual conference in Croydon, south London, Mr Waters went on to attack ‘class hatred’ and the view that private schools are ‘elitist and self-serving’.
‘I believe we suffer under a label which we do not deserve,’ he said.
‘As a sector, we seek to broaden our access, and to offer supported places to students irrespective of background, wealth or status.’
Mr Waters said 13 per cent of A-levels were taken by pupils at independent schools but more than 30 per cent of A and A* grades were achieved by them.
‘The universities know this, and rightly resist social engineering on academic grounds.’
He also warned the Government that its flagship academies were not truly independent. ‘Allowing a school to be independent from local education authority control does not make it independent, and we must continue to resist this hijacking of our identity.’
I see it as....teachers/schools teach basic morals for children as a development on what they have learned at home from their parents or as a foundation for the souls who are not taught any/or good Morals from their parents.
Moral teaching is the responsibility of parents. The Daily Mail lives in some 1950's white middle class world and talks mostly nonsense.
common good morals are shared by schools and homes. It's part of the school curriculum to teach morals as in GMRC!
Parents have the responsibility to teach their children morals and ethics. Schools can compliment this and also teach social responsibility.
One key problem in our society at present is that parents are not spending enough quality time with their offspring and in many cases the extended family is not there to help. So, most of the "input" kids get is from peers, TV and outsiders.
Personally as a Muslimah,since in Islam morals is very much a part of our faith, I'd rather my child actually learn her morals and all aspects of her religion from the Quran and authentic Islamic books and from Islamic scholars who are known to teach the religion correctly, than even from me. I am but a mere human, not devoid of faults and shortcomings hence I'd rather not have her simply mimic me.
Likewise her teachers at school, are also normal lay people specializing in the subjects they are supposed to teach and not scholars of religion and morals. For example her teacher may teach them to respect and behave with kindness towards their mates, but may at times behave on the contrary herself. Kids are smart! They suss things out fast. So whilst I expect her school to educate her in terms of academics, I advice and encourage her to study religion and morals from far more reliable sources.Of course I do try hard to also set a good example, but like I said I am far from being THE ideal role model and I'd love to see my daughter doing better than me.
I think teaching moral starts at home. This is where the foundation is laid. What ever the child learns at school or from his peers will be measured against what has been taught and practiced at home.
When we were in school we had a subject called Moral Science till high school, we even had exams for that. Indian school in Qatar still has a period for Moral science.
I don’t know if you guys have something like that in the British/American Curriculum.
Morality is universal; every religion / faith / culture / society, has the same golden rules:
Do not steal.
Do not lie.
Do not harm.
"Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you.
Etc
Well I don't know any of the teachers at my school who would teach any child to disrespect anyone.
We follow a curriculum for all subjects and even if myself or any of the teachers did feel that some people 'deserve' different treatment according to their job status, religion or culture, then we are not allowed to teach this to our class.
Instead in the curriculum we teach that everyone should be treated fairly regardless of their religion, culture, appearance, wealth etc....
With regards to bullying we have an anti-bullying policy and all schools should have this too.
MissTeacher, this is partly what I'm talking about, what many in this region would consider "the norm" when it comes to the acceptability of racism and bullying I would not want my child to learn. Many teachers here may think it is ok to treat maids or laborer's with disrespect, or that certain degree's of name calling are ok, these are not things I want my child to learn or to think is acceptable.
Obviously, he's going to pick some of these things up vicariously at school, especially from peers, but at the end of the day it is my duty as a parent to "weed out" the things I disagree with and reinforce what I believe to be good morals.
MM, some parents don't even know how to speak correctly. "That should be taught in the home."
How do you expect them to teach morals correctly??
Since there are no generally accepted morals (there are as many as there are religions or philosophies, and they all differ from each other) morals taught by non-professionals will always suffer from subjectivity and limited validity. Governments try to teach morals by issuing laws. However, these morals serve the government and not necessarily the individual. Therefore I suggest to teach children everything that is there and foremost prepare them to make a decision! The moral on decision-making is simple: don't do anything you don't want anybody to do to you. And always ask yourself: what would happen if everybody did what I do?
Oh I stay clear of teaching issues such as same-sex marriage, gender roles, religion etc.... plus my children are much to young to learn the above just now (apart from religion of course).
When I say I teach morals through citizenship, what I mean are issues such as; bullying, being a good friend, treating people fairly, racism, families etc...
If you send your child to school they are going to learn things that you perhaps didn't expect them to learn, be it via the teacher or through talking to their classmates.
DC... Well said! Saludo 'yo kontigo!!!(I salute you!!!)
Teaching is quite admirable. Hope all Teachers (with all my high regards) is adopting the same method as yours. Keep up the GOOD work!
Morals and religion/Faith are not necessarily knotted together. Character building and education, self-reliance, anti-bullying, tolerance. Teaching the youngsters that when they do wrong there is responsibility and consequences, instilling a sense of citizenship.
Main goal in education should not be to brainwash or indoctrinate, but rather be to help kids be better human beings
Whose to say the teachers are right LP? While I agree with Missteacher that schools should teach things like "citizenship" like recycling, volunteering, etc. I don't believe that they should be educating kids about things like same-sex marriage, gender roles, etc. That should be taught in the home.
Parenting. If we can make a "Career" out of our work... then why can't Parents make a "Career" out of Parenting? After all, our Children are our basic reason to make the best out of our career. Best wishes to all the Parents out there!
Yes @MM and I respect that and I have to be very careful with what I say to my Muslim children as I imagine their parents will feel the same.
This is why when I teach citizenship, my Muslim children go to Islamic studies. When I do talk about religion I do not talk about 'my religion', I talk about world religion and what different people believe.
There are over 16 different nationalities in my class and 3 different religions. I teach them to respect each others beliefs but always stay true to your own religion and beliefs.
And actually I have pity on those who are taught by these parent "idiots'!
Whose job is it to teach morality? The school or the parents/guardians? I believe that is it is both. It takes more that one person to teach kids morality. It's a gray line between the responsibility of the parents and that of the school.
Why? Are parents the ones who know it all? I know many utterly stupid parents!!
There is teaching children a general overview of different beliefs and imposing morals on them LP. Morals should come from the parents.
But your morals are also sooo subjective, MM. Are you the one who knows it all? The better alternative is to teach children everything and prepare them to choose.
As a parent, one of my biggest worries is that my child will come home one day spouting off beliefs that I don't agree with and that he learned from his fellow students.
Morals are so subjective and so linked with religion, that the idea of my son learning them from someone else worries me.
It is very important to teach children morals in school. I try to teach my children morals everyday. I teach citizenship to non-Muslim students which focuses a lot on morals and how to be a 'good' citizen, plus in literacy we study fables which of course teaches us morals for everyday life. I feel that its not only academic learning they are here for, but for life- long learning as a citizen in a diverse society.
I find also that a lot of children here spend a lot of their time with their nannies/maids and less time with their parents to teach them such morals.