CYP Now - Letter: Moral education

One wonders why the primary teacher in Judgment Call was so quickly inclined to phone the parent of the child whose glasses had been broken (Children Now, 5-11 October). Surely there was some very real potential for moral education in which the protagonists, rather than their parents, were centre-stage?

Equally, we might have cause for concern when CCTV is seen as bothessential to ensuring young people act responsibly and as the finalarbiter of blame.

What of the sense that we should be educating young people to make goodmoral and ethical decisions? Likewise, we might question the "rewardschemes" and strategies to "incentivise positive behaviour". Are we sopessimistic that everything has to be based on external "stimulus andresponse"?

Why did the teacher not react more incisively to the behaviour she hadwitnessed earlier? Acting then might have meant her dilemma wasaverted.

So we are left with the issue of bullying being confused and conflatedwith another separate issue of vandalism and destruction ofproperty.

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