SECOND DRAFT / 1.ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY / SHOULD SCHOOLS PROVIDE MORAL EDUCATION FOR YOUTH, OR SHOULD INSTRUCTION IN VALUES BE LEFT TO PARENTS ? / NURDAN DOĞAN

SHOULD SCHOOLS PROVIDE MORAL EDUCATION FOR YOUTH, OR SHOULD INSTRUCTION IN VALUES BE LEFT TO PARENTS ?

   Morality is to make good behaviors with one’s own desire and to stay away from bad behaviors.Family is the important element in moral education. Moral education is a long and difficult process which lasts from birth to death. Child’s moral education starts at birth. A newborn baby is in need of love, trust and attention. Meeting these needs in a healthy way is important in terms of the child’s moral development. Furthermore, peer relationships, school life and the mass media play an important role in the moral education of child but this task falls to family primarily. To give a good moral education, children should be trained by their families according to child’s development terms. Child’s moral development stages are extremely important.

   The first step of moral development is an infancy period. During this period, the child's sense of right and wrong, is that just how child feel about the good and bad. The second step is the period when children begin to walk. In this period, children learn "right" and "wrong" are told by others. In the third step, during the pre-school years, children begin to internalize family values​​ as if they were their own values​​. They begin to perceive the consequences of their own behavior.

   Fourth step covers the period of 7-10 years. The distinguishing feature of this period is to begin interrogating the child's parents, teachers and other adults’s infallibilities. Children have a strong sense like "should be made" and "should not be made" in this period. In the fifth step which covering pre-adolescence and adolescence years, children give importance to peers rather than adults. Byexperimenting with different value systems in the buddy system, they will try to find the most suitable one for himself. Especially, in this period, we must direct our children to people who knew religious and moral values ​and advise them to establish friendships with them.

   The biggest responsibility falls to parents before someone else. Families should be a good example and model for the children. They must have certain principles in moral education. Nice behaviors should be endear such as justice, fairness, generosity, being true one’s word, patience, gratitude. Likewise, children should be kept away from bad behaviors such as cruelty, lying, mockery, vanity, slander, envy. Families must have a balanced discipline. Reward and punishment must be used correctly. Children should be followed at the school.

   There are also school’s  role  in the moral education of children. Teacher and teacher’s communication with other children in the class affect moral values. Teacher’s personality, attitude and perspective to events it the class is more important than the theoretical training. Children learn by modeling everything, so the first people child see are teacher and classmates after the child’s family environment. The slightest distinction made between children, the courses which taught shouting by teacher, the teacher’s resorting to violence frequently will affect children’s moral values negatively.

   As a result, child’s moral education starts at birth with parent. Community, environment, friends, school shape child’s moral values. These factors must help to child for having good moral values. Atatürk has showed that the importance of moral values saying I like athlete’s intelligent, agile and also good moral. We must not forget the significance of the moral education of children and youth for a peaceful family and social structure.