The social worker and manager of the Alex Kidz Clinic Elizabeth Mokoena urged parents to appreciate that the education of their children starts at home and that schools and teachers merely complement that system and culture.
As schools open for the 2023 educational year, Mokoena, whose institution offers support and counselling for abused children, said parents must sit down with their children and take the opportunity to explain to them that joking about someone being very tall, short, chubby, skinny, black or white was not something to joke about as this amounted to a form of bullying.
Children should also be told that there was nothing wrong with wearing the same shoes every day and that a used backpack carried the same dreams as a new one, she added. Also, children should be taught that they should not exclude someone because they were ‘different’ or did not have the same opportunities as others.
“You need to explain to the children that teasing hurts and is a no-no in life and at school… and that they go to school to learn and not to compete and that all the children have the same value, and impress upon them that education starts at home and that school and teachers merely complement that process and culture.”
Mokoena said it’s at home that children should learn to say:
- Good morning
- Good afternoon
- Good evening
- Please
- With your permission
- Sorry
- Forgive me
- Thank you very much
- Thank you
- I was wrong.
What they also should learn at home is to be:
- Honest
- Punctual
- Not to insult
- Polite
- Respect everyone – friends, colleagues, elders, teachers, and authorities.
It’s also at home that they learn to:
- Eat everything
- Not to talk with your mouth full
- Have personal hygiene
- Not to throw litter on the ground
- Help parents with their daily chores
- Not to take what does not belong to them
- Be content with what you have
- Work honestly to earn a living
- Dress modestly.
At home, children must also learn to:
- Be organised
- Take care of their belongings
- Respect the rules
- Speak their mother tongues and master their culture and spirituality.
At school, teachers will teach mathematics; languages; history; geography; sciences, philosophy, sociology; physical education; art; and would only reinforce what had already been learnt at home.
“Ït’s because of what we have learnt at home that the individual will be respected and that he/she will respect others. School, the streets and peers will never replace home.”
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