Should schools teach moral values?

Question

What are your reactions?

Answer 1

Schools already attempt to teach responsibility,leadership, teamwork and usually have honor guidelines which can be considered moral lessons in a way. I believe the responsibility for teaching love, compassion and virtue should lie on the parents.

Answer 2

Should Schools Teach Moral Values

Answer 3

I don't think it is a matter of should or should not because we all teach moral values every day by the way we conduct ourselves. Students don't learn what we "teach" them, they learn what we show them. Our job as teachers (classroom teachers, parents and the community) is to demonstrate our moral values. This will occur whether we have good morals or not so good morals. We will demonstrate our morals and values to the world by the way we act.

I have tried to teach these morals to my children and the children I teach:
Be respectful
Be fair
Care about others
Accept others as they are
Leave everything just a little better than it was before you got there
Pick up after yourself
Always do you best, whatever that may be
Be kind

And so on.

Do I measure up to this goal and set this example every day? No. But when I don't, I can model another example of a moral value that is important to me:

Say you're sorry and mean it.

Answer 4

They should teach values, but Not the kind of values that are often taught: saying how they should act and how they should be, but what we as humans value. They should teach why the principle is angry all the time, or why the teachers get angry all the time. They should teach them where we are and where we are headed. These are the sort of universal values that should be taught. They should teach, in detail, the sorts of things we value like esteem, food, water, freedom, and how they relate to one another. Then they will come to their own conclusions about moral values. Judgement and opinion have no room in the school halls, yet they are abundent in our schools. We sure live in a up-side-down society.

Answer 5

Well,, they certainly do and need to reinforce common moral values. Rules against fighting and stealing are some of the obvious.

Other moral concepts are either less clear, or touchier.
I think the concept of "tolerance" is in that category. If such a moral value must be addressed it needs to allow for the rationales for both tolerance and lack of tolerance.

I don't think a teacher giving an opinion is a problem in high school, as long as it is identified as such, and other points of view considered or at least identified.

Answer 6

I think it is almost impossible for them not to do this to some degree. For example, I can't imagine a school which does not teach that cheating is wrong or which would remain neutral about student lying. On the other hand, those are things on which almost everyone in society agrees, and I don't think most people would object to having their children taught that dishonesty is wrong.

I have much more of a problem with public schools jumping in and teaching morals which are specifically tied to particular religious beliefs; for example, that homosexuality is immoral. Not everyone agrees, and it puts a parent in a very difficult situation if their choice is between exposing their child to beliefs they don't share of paying for private school.

I do think that private schools can teach whatever they choose; parents select private schools according to which ones best fit their needs, and they risk losing revenues if they teach things which go counter to the parents' beliefs.

I know that many people feel that schools have no business teaching morals and that this should be up to the parents. I disagree, because there are many parents who do not bother to teach these things, and the children still need to learn them. Also, I would guess that most of us, when faced with the children of parents with poor moral values, are grateful that the children are exposed to more than just their parents' morality. School provides us with a broader view. If our parents' teachings are inadequate, it provides us with better options. If our parents' teachings are good, it shows us other possibilities and makes us more aware of why our parents' ways are good, thus strengthening our beliefs.

Answer 7

Whose moral values? George Bush's? Or little *****? Schools will only teach values that make lower class people more enslaved to the right-wing machine. In general, the moral values in schools debate are not about fundamental values, but Republican values...against abortion, against minorities, against the poor. Ah, but the values of entrepreneurship! We should give value to that! No more taxes on those poor rich! Yes, moral values as they are discussed today, are Republican values. BEWARE!

Answer 8

Schools WILL teach moral values, whether they want to or not. How a teacher behaves--how he/she treats students--are examples from which students will learn. And how students are taught/allowed to deal with eath other--also teach moral lessons.

The only question is what sort of lessons children will be taught. We can teach teach respect--or we can demand conformity to arbitrary rules. We can teach self-discipline and responsibility--or subject our children to unremitting surveillance and show them thereby that they are not trusted and are not to turust others. we can be honest about what wwe know and believe--or we can make a farce of intellectual honesty by mixing our beliefs with facts and demand they be considered on an equal footing. We can teach our children to evaluate each person as an individual and value whate each has to offer--or we can teach hatred and fear.

Right now our schools are failing miserably on every count.

Answer 9

As professional teachers, we do this naturally on a daily basis just by demanding respect and having an orderly classroom.

I think teaching moral values, though, is the job of the parents. Good parents = good students.

Answer 10

You have good kids and bad kids in every school. You have parents who raise their kids, and parents who want schools and daycares to raise their kids in every school, you have rich and poor kids in every school (scholarships, financial aid, charities to help the poor go to good schools), you have drugs, disrespect, etc. in every school. My highschool was better than the area private schools both academically and behaviorally. My friends daughter went to the local catholic high school and she walked in one afternoon to see two girls making out, so it is everywhere. My school had very strict rules, even stricter than the private schools. My parenst actually switched us from a private elementary to the public because it was run better. The public school was run as if it was a private school, and had very few behavioral issues (there were more 'bad kids' in my private kindergarten than my public elementary school for grades 1-5). In most areas suburban schools tend to be better than city, and depending on the rural area, they are usually good too. So, in short, it all depends on the school and the location. Take a tour, look at the schools rules to see if they are strict enough. See if you can observe a few classes if you are really concerned. If you are worried about your children being negatively influenced by other kids, your best option is home schooling or a very tiny private school (my friend had a graduating class of 4 students--but those are hard to find and financially tight/ little resources).