Yesterday’s debate on the Children’s Schools and Families Bill really brought to the fore the anger that parents, teachers and significant others feel at the way the Government has bombarded schools with legislation, regulation and bureaucracy.
I have been inundated with letters, emails and faxes raising huge concerns about the contents of this Bill. Who says the public is apathetic?
The parents that have contacted me about the Children’s Schools and Families Bill say what they want are schools where their children can be educated and prepared to face the world around them confidently.
They want order, they want discipline and they want their children properly schooled. What they don’t want is for their children to be a part of Government experiment or guinea pigs to test out the next new media headline of an idea mapped out on the back of a fag packet.
Parents have been ignored for too long and I think it is high time they were back at the heart of what happens to their children. Schools need relationships with both children and parents.
Also, just on the note of children as far as I can remember parents have been legally responsible for their children until the age of eighteen. If in all other areas of life we are reminded of that let it be remembered for education too when this Government tries to sever the relationship of trust between parent and child.
Sure, some families face greater challenges than others, and there are some parents that are not interested in their kids. But you don’t throw out the baby with bathwater and think that will solve the problem.
Parents out there – you are being listened to. Like you, I’m a mum and my children are first and foremost my responsibility.
( 3 comments ) Tags: Children's Schools and Families Bill, education, Schools
Comment by Derek Brooks on March 13, 2010 at 11:37 am
One of the best contributions I have seen from the Party – ‘punchy’! Give this woman more airtime!
Comment by Tris Dyson on March 20, 2010 at 11:54 am
Its good to hear a recognition that schools need relationships with both children and parents. Schools fail when parents are disengaged, and too often these schools dont invest enough time or even know how to go about developing these relationships.
Comment by Irene Stanbrough on July 24, 2010 at 10:07 pm
If you work in a school like I do you would soon realise how many children are out of control and its the parents fault they are so out of control its almot scary and we cant fix the problem its the parents fault as they dont respect the teacher or anyone they are the new society and its so scary a thought just like that Moat person out of control and not a chance of reasoning with them to get a good solution we just have to wait until they push the self destruct button