I RECALL my days as a student when I would always respect my teachers, greet them with good manners, speak with them in a polite tone, maintain classroom discipline, and never speak negatively or rudely about them. We had a similar level of respect for teachers as we had, and have, for our parents.

I respected my teachers because they deserved it, and because my parents had taught me good manners. But now that I am a teacher, I have observed a significant shift in the manners of the younger generation.

I have witnessed and heard students joking, mocking, and laughing in class, treating teachers with disrespect, and using social networking sites to defame the teachers without a reason. Parenting skills and, of course, parental education are the critical factors for such a behaviour.

Parents are responsible for instilling good manners in their children, but today’s parents are typically indifferent to their children’s behaviour. They believe that by having their children enrolled in a good school, they have fulfilled their duty and that it is now the responsibility of the teachers or schools to take care of the rest.

Parents must keep in mind the simple and undeniable fact that the home is the first unit in children’s life, where they learn multiple behaviours. The home is the root of a fruitful tree, and parents are responsible for creating these roots.

If these roots are seeded with good manners, the children will learn to obey their parents, teachers and elders. However, if these roots are weak, the children will never be able to respect others and will, therefore, never be able to live a respectful life.

Therefore, it is necessary for parents to teach their children good behaviour and moral values. Remember, if children are disrespectful to their teachers today, they will likely be disrespectful to their parents tomorrow.

Taniya Ahmed
Jamshoro

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2023