Children who do not have any boundaries at home “resent” them at school, a teachers’ leader has said.
Dr Mary Bousted, the general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), made the comments as she said “far too many” children are pampered at home.
In comments to journalists during ATL’s annual conference in Manchester, Dr Bousted commented: “Children without boundaries at home resent boundaries imposed at school.”
Contribute
She continued: “How many parents ask their children regularly to contribute to the running of the house?
“Far too many children are waited on at home hand and foot.
“They don’t do the washing up and they don’t do the hoovering and they don’t have to make their own beds.”
No favours
Dr Bousted commented: “We are not doing them any favours if we make them into little Buddhas at home”.
“And it certainly doesn’t do them any favours in school,” she added.
In 2010 Dr Bousted warned that parents are “buying off” their children with TVs and computers instead of teaching them basic social skills and it is causing a crisis in classroom discipline.
Authority
In 2009 author and psychologist Dr Aric Sigman cautioned that parents who fail to exert authority have bred a “spoilt generation” of children who believe adults must earn their respect.
Dr Sigman said: “Authority is a basic health requirement in children’s lives.
“Children of the spoilt generation are used to having their demands met by their parents and others in authority, and that in turn makes them unprepared for the realities of adult life.
“This has consequences in every area of society, from the classroom to the workplace, the streets to the criminal courts and rehabilitation clinics.”