BONITA BATTON - JOURNAL 8 - TEACHERS DO NOT HAVE THE PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY FOR INSTILLING VALUES IN CHILDREN

I feel that it is a misnomer world-wide that teachers have the primary responsibility for teaching and instilling values in children.

It is a known fact, or it should be, that parents are the primary teachers in their children's lives, and it should not be an automatic opinion that that responsibility should be on the teachers. They should only be a back-up to the parents, instead of the other way around.

Initially, parents have the sole responsibility of teaching their children. There is no reason that this project, being so important, can be left in the hands of anyone other than parents. It would be easier on parents to be able to depend on such a matter, but, NOT.



The responsibility of teachers in the educational system is to teach as much of the system as possible to our children. Personally, I feel that it is not up to teachers to teach such things as values, manners, personal issues, love, unselfishness, how to be a productive person in life, or anything related to life itself.



It is too important of an issue that teachers have on them to have to inject another issue. Most parents should support teachers. Once when my sons were in grade school, the teachers were striking for more financial support within the Cincinnati Public School System. Most of the parents in my neighborhood stayed at home. When I saw this, I phoned some of the parents, who in turn phoned some of the other parents and we not only supported the effort through phone solicitations, but we actually joined in the picketing and physically supported the teachers. That's the kind of respect I have always had for our teaching institute.



It's just that important. Teachers have never made the money that they should have. I personally feel that their jobs are extremely undervalued. They are second in command, in my opinion, to parents. And that's all I have to say about that.



They are too much of an entity to ignor.