Role of parents to instil discipline

WONG Chun Wai’s article “Disciplining kids begins at home” (Sunday Star, Aug 20) shares an insightful perspective on the various issues related to bullying in schools. Coming from a different background, I felt the urge to share my opinion with the hope of reinforcing this perspective.

It is a known fact that bullying is a universal, unresolved issue that plagues the hallways of schools ranging from private international schools to local government-funded ones. Being a student in an international school that has strict enforcement on harassment, I haven’t actually seen any cases of bullying. However, I’m well aware that this is a matter of concern in many schools.

When bullying happens, who should take the blame? It is usually the school that has to accept responsibility for the students’ bad behaviour. We hardly look at the actions taken at home to correct bad behaviour, however.

Even though I have the privilege of studying in a safe environment, my parents are very concerned about my personal development at home and they take time to teach me about values and ethics.

I’m not “blaming” parents for their lack of influence at home but I would like to urge everyone – parents, teachers and even students – to take action and prevent the development of toxic behaviour before it gets out of hand.