Rebuttal of Government for the motion “parents should be responsible for their school-going children’s discipline problems.”

Miss/Mr. ______________ (1st speaker) of the oppostition stated that blame is to be placed on children themselves, and not the parents. What she said is “all sizzle and no steak,” because her whole speech is a mess of words that cannot be deciphered properly even by the keenest listener. How do you blame mere children that do no understand the consequence to their actions unless told?

Besides this, the 1st oppostion speaker has unconsiously agreed to our stand by saying: parents have to be a very good role model to their children. Parents are responsible for their school-going children’s discipline problems. Indirectly, they have to be good role models. As my 1st speaker has said, the clichѐ “Do as I say, don’t do what I do” is irrelevant to children at the developmental stage.

Once again I patiently repeat, for the sake of the simple-minded debators from the opposition, that children are innocent creatures. They do NOT know why simply throwing toys around is wrong. You have to tell them. Thus parents who have abdicated their responsibilities and deprive children of the support, guidance and discipline they need most will cause them to be unruly.

Furthermore, the 1st oppostion speaker had asked an interesting question at one point: Can you name a school in Malaysia that doesn’t have discipline problems? My superb answer for this question is: Home schools. Home schools do not have serious discipline problems to account for. It is stupid and relatively shallow to generalise discipline problems in schools like this.

Miss/Mr._______________(2nd speaker) of the opposition mentioned that peer pressure is directly responsible for the involvement in unhealthy activities of kids above 14 years of age . The reason this is deplorable is because according to Steinberg and Silverberg, adolescents are less influenced by friends when they have close and involving relationships with their parents. It is up to parents, argues Steinberg to determine how sucessful their child will become by shaping the child’s attitude towards school in deed and word. As brought up by my first speaker, the first 6 years of a child’s life would determine the rest of his/her life. Mounts and Steinberg in 1995, stated that authorative parenting encourages adolescents to be less succeptible to peer influence (unacceptable behaviours). To further reinforce my point, I shall quote Napoleon Bonaparte: “Where firmness is sufficient, rashness is unnecessary.” Thus, it is undeniable that parents play a crucial role in the civic development of a child and are responsible for their school-going children’s discipline problems. Allow me to repeat the government’s stand, “parents are the first teachers and have the most impactful influence on their children.”

Moreover, the 2nd speaker of the opposing team had said: teenagers struggle with moral issues and this leads them to establish a deep devotion to their peers. Quoting an excerpt from the book of Proverbs, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. I reaffirm with ease that parents are responsible for laying the proper foundation in the early years of a child.

Written by Phoebe (28/2/2011)