<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>"If the school system can't figure a way to have the respect of students, they are failing in their fundamental efforts."[/quote]
I'd say the shool system is a victim of the parents, in that case.
How many times have I seen kids running amok in public, while the parents ignore them?
All the time.
Then there are the parents who obviously consider their kids to be nothing more than a pain in the @ss. They treat them like misbehaving animals (which some of them are). Everytime one of these kids asks a question, picks something up, strays a little too far, the parents get mad. They're irritated that their kid doesn't behave, and they take it out on them with a self-satisfying scolding or smack. It's doesn't seem to be about "guiding the kid along the righteous path to responsible adulthood." It seems to be about "If you make me mad, I'm gonna get you."
Kids are a pain in the @ss (don't have any, never will), and sometimes a scolding or a smack is an appropriate punishment, and an important lesson. But parenting is a lot more than just putting the leash on.
I see so many parents in public who don't seem to have caught on to the fact that children are emotional/psychological beings, and it's the job of the parents to mold that personality into an respectful, responsible adult. There has to control and punishment, yes, but that's not be all and end all of raising a child.
The way in which a parent goes about implimenting that control determines what kind of adult that child is going to be.
I usually see two kinds of kids in these instances:
The one who is almost too meek even to speak to their parent, but apparently still ends up doing everything "wrong".
The brat who really does do everything wrong, and doesn't seem to care about being admonished, like he's deadened to the importance of his parents disapproval.
In either case, Mom and Dad need to change their tactics. Whatever they're doing, it isn't working.
A bright spot: I was in BlockBuster the other day, and a kid came tearing around the corner and almost ran into me. I wasn't expecting it, and I gave him a reactive harsh look. His Mom came around the corner, explained that he should say "Excuse me", which he then did, and then she made him go sit in the car. She didn't berate him, even though she was obviously annoyed and embarassed. She was a class act of a parent.
Sorry if I rambled.
-boing
[This message has been edited by boing (edited July 10, 1999).]
[This message has been edited by boing (edited July 10, 1999).]