LAST week I was invited to go to a local primary school to talk to a group of students about leadership within the community – being good citizens as they prepare to move into high school.
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I thought this was an excellent initiative, but it also got me thinking about our individual roles within the community.
The kids were in year six, so around 11 to 12 years old, and the teachers had taken the role of teaching and/or reminding them about their responsibility to be a good citizen and community member, especially while at school.
Maybe I am old school, but shouldn’t this be the parent’s role?
By age 12, most good citizenship lessons should already have been learnt.
Kids should already know the difference between right and wrong; they should already know about the importance of making safe and good decisions; they should already have matured enough to be trustworthy.
Are we, as parents, expecting teachers and many other community members to teach our children the basics of being a decent person?
Have we relinquished our responsibilities as mentors and role models to our children?
Sports people and the like should not be role models for our children.
Certainly their commitment to their sport and fair play ethics are qualities to be admired, but the real role models for our children should be us – their parents. As soon as something happens in the community many parents look for some governing authority to blame.
Stop looking around, accept your responsibility as your child’s main educator, and start mentoring and teaching them.
Our children depend on us for nurturing and knowledge.
There should not be a stage where we give that role to someone else.
Sit down, talk to your kids and learn with them.
It is a wonderful experience – you are much better off for having shared with them rather then giving that to someone else.
