The question of who should prepare children for productive adulthood can spark controversy. Some people think parents should be responsible for this, while others name schools as suitable places to learn ways of life. I believe that the roles of both are complementary.
On the one hand, parents have the greatest impact on a child’s development. They are generally the only influencers in children’s world in the first five years. They are constantly observed in various situations, and their behavior is imitated without question. This implies that parents can take advantage of this, demonstrate the correct behavior, and set good examples, instilling values such as honesty, respect, and responsibility in their children. For instance, parents who uphold their civic duties, such as volunteering, show children how to shape their societies better when they grow up.
On the other hand, schools are the second agency that influences children before they enter society. These institutes are designed for structured and unstructured social interactions. Inside the class, children deal with teachers, classroom rules, and peers, and outside the class, they interact with fellow students, allowing them to develop essential life skills that a good citizen needs for the future. For example, it is the environment in the school that will enable them to stand up to a bully and learn that confronting injustice is essential, leading children to take the right action in similar situations in adulthood and become activists against oppression.
These discussions suggest that raising children to become productive members of society is a complex task that parents or schools are unlikely to accomplish single-handedly. These societal units need to play an essential complementary role in doing so. Parental influence instills in children the first lessons about good citizenry, followed by school, where the interaction with the environment will allow the development of additional lessons.
