The Editor, Sir:

We have had some genuine concern over the past months and the toughest of all was the focus of same-sex education and the recent one about the distribution of condoms in high schools. Just what has happened to our country?

These questions all seem like the schools have given up on asking students to conform to the rules and regulations and have suddenly started providing a massive level of customer service.

As our nation becomes corrupt and vicious, teaching moral and ethical issues in schools can seem like walking a tightrope, but morals are the standards of right and wrong that help to regulate our daily activities. It's the parents' responsibility to instil proper morals and values, but many students don't have much of a home life these days. Who else will instigate ethical principles?

More than teaching

We're beginning to realise, once again, that education at its core is more than just teaching our young the skills that are needed for a job. It's also about passing on to each new generation the values that serve as the foundation and cornerstone of our free democratic society. Virtue must be joined to learning, and ethical instructions should appear before practical instructions.

The future of Jamaica is at stake, and even though there are exciting possibilities, the challenges are great. We know the uphill task of trying to teach children, and due to the restriction and ruin by political correctness and the threat of legal action, some schools are no longer the axis point of effective education. When we lose what morals we do have, our culture will fall.

How we decide to raise our children is entirely reliant on our morals, values, beliefs and how we were raised. Everyone has a different approach and method of raising their children. What connects all parents is their want for what is best for their children. We want them to be respectful, goal-oriented, kind-hearted, mentally powerful and happy, which are some of the reasons we send them to school.

I am, etc.,

LERON MATTISON

leronmattison@yahoo.com