Parents cannot ‘outsource’ responsibility for children

I CANNOT agree more with every word Dr Hue Chee Yin penned down in her letter, “Teachers also need protection” (The Star, Oct 23; online at bit.ly/4ozTL4v).

Teachers should not only be empowered and protected, they should be given the necessary support through a safe, just, transparent, effective and rewarding infrastructure when carrying out their primary role of imparting knowledge in school.

They must be given their rightful space, trust and respect to be able to instil and cultivate positive values in their charges.

Only when this is done will passionate teachers who genuinely care for their students stay in the profession and new talent can be recruited.

But regardless of how teachers are empowered, protected and rewarded to be the best, they are not parents and can never replace the role of parents, who are a child’s first teachers, educators, and protectors. Family and home will always be the “first school” that a child is exposed to and from which he or she learns from. It is the place where values are first cultivated, developed, and reinforced.

A child is brought into this world like a blank sheet of paper. What is imprinted on it depends on what is first observed and happens within the family, from the very first day the child is born. Eventually these observations shape his or her personal values, perspectives and understanding of how the world works.

Thus, parents and society cannot rely entirely on teachers and schools to nurture and guide a child. Parenting is not a type of “service” that can be replaced with an “outsourced to a third party” (ie teachers) service.

No government body or private entity can ever replace the role of parents.

Thus parents will have to step up and be responsible and accountable in guiding their children, in nurturing and protecting them to the best of their abilities.

The best way is for parents and teachers to work hand-in-hand and support each other in safeguarding and bringing out the best in children.

CPL

Shanghai