Thursday, September 20, 2007

Leaving the vicious circle

My blogger friend Bengbeng brought up an issue about teenage boy problems, to which I wrote this response:

As I read this, I think of Elvis’ song "In the Ghetto". The vicious circle goes round & round from one generation to the next, unless it gets broken by one that gains a good education in between.

I grew up in a generation that was moulded by a school system that seriously looked into moral &/or religious education that went hand-in-hand with other basics. Save for a few die-hards, even those who dropped out after primary 6 had enough moral training in them to make good in life. I’m quite disappointed with our current system that has left out, or poorly implemented this vital part of education. Even the emphasis of religious education has been very lopsided in favor of only one religion. At the risk of being controversial, I have to state that the rest of the population has to look for their own solutions, it seems.

What I didn't add was that our parents instilled in us the habit of learning, working hard and being disciplined. Dad insisted our most important goal at that stage in life was to gain an education, without which we'd be like boats out at sea without rudders, letting the wind and waves take us whichever way it blows, without our control over our own destiny. And he didn't spare the rod whenever we violated the rules. That was the same rod that even some governments today want to outlaw. When we went to school, our teachers took over from where he left off. And that is the school system together with those dedicated teachers that I believe we miss nowadays.

And look at what kids dare to do nowadays. Would you put the blame entirely on them? I would look at myself first.

7 comments:

  1. thanks. i like what you write. in many ways your sentiments in many issues mirror mine.

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  2. Nowadays, teachers cannot pick up where parents left off. It's hard for teachers to instill disciple as then again parents have the mentality that the teachers are their servants. Here in Singapore, parents dont do their job and accuse teachers of abuse when the teachers disciple the unruly kids. what a dump...

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  3. Your main worry begins when this generation become teenagers...
    We here, are already looking at the results. Mat rempits, school gangsters, etc.

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  4. unfortunately, most parents told for granted that the school 'looks after' their children from A to Z. Parents must do their parts; the school isn't responsible for the students 24/7.

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  5. Everybody's trying to delegate what traditionally should be their primary duty. It's an affliction of epidemic proportions these days. During Harry Truman's time they called it 'passing the buck', to which Harry countered with The buck stops here on his desk.

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