Introduce parenting classes in schools

Children should be taught the basics of parenting while at school, suggests president of the National Primary School Principal Association Lance Mottley.

In an address at the National Parent Teacher Association’s interfaith service on Friday, Mottley said, “The reality is our children go on to become parents, some, even before completing school. (Parenting classes) will ensure that good parenting values are passed on to our children and they, in turn, will incaulcate acceptable social values and attitudes in their children.”

He said the classes should start immediately and were a way to put children first and “save the nation.”

Mottley said indiscipline and violence in schools seemed to be more prevalent today than in the past and have the real potential to interfere with children’s education causing long-term damages to the country’s economic growth and development.

He said every institution, including the home, that was charged with the responsibility of securing the moral and social fabric of society had experienced consistent decay.

“There is an African proverb that says, ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ This was the case in our own society a few decades ago. The neighbour, shopkeeper, the church, and even the extended family – everyone was involved. Sadly, this is not the case today.”

Instead, people have become more individualistic but, he said, there is folly in that kind of thinking.

“Some may say that we’ve become super sensitive, and reject the idea of anyone else correcting our children.

“This, coupled with the fact that there appears to be a total breakdown in discipline in our homes – the first place where acceptable social behaviours and attitudes as well as good character building should happen.”

That breakdown at home, Mottley said, eventually has a ripple effect in the rest of society, including schools, which become a mirror of that decay.

“In some schools, the level of indiscipline is so bad it is a nightmare for teachers and administration, especially when we have to treat with hostile and unco-operative parents.”

In addition to parenting classes for children, he suggested regular workshops for parents.

He also encouraged parents to become more involved in school parent-teacher associations.

“To parents, be more supportive and involved in your children’s lives and in their school. I assure you that, by and large, your children’s teachers and principals want the same thing you want for them – to be the best that they can be.

“So co-operate with them. Let your children see that you have a positive and healthy relationship with their teachers, and other parents, so that they will have respect for them.”

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