Parents need to do more to help teachers rather than expect them to be “surrogate mothers and fathers”, Nick Clegg will say today.
I’m not a Clegg fan (in fact, he’s down there at the very bottom with Benjamin Netanyahu on my list of people worth admiring), but when he’s right, he’s right. And he’s right about this.
The Deputy Prime Minister will argue that too much is expected of teachers and it is time parents did “their bit” and not leave the responsibility for the upbringing of their children to schools. His comments strike a different tone from those of senior Conservatives in recent weeks who have placed a lot of emphasis on teaching and school discipline as a reason for the recent riots. In a speech Mr Clegg will say: “If you don’t take an interest in your child’s education, teachers cannot make up the shortfall. “We already expect our teachers to be social workers; child psychologists; nutritionists; child protection officers. We expect them to police the classroom, take care of our children’s health; counsel our sons and daughters; guide them, worry about them, and, on top of that, educate them too. “When you consider that list, it is phenomenal that so many rise to the challenge. But it is too much to ask. Teachers are not surrogate mothers and fathers; they cannot do it all.”
Parents need to be parents and not just people kids see laying on the couch sipping booze and snorting coke.
