The Editor, Sir:

I am writing in response to the article dated March 9, titled 'School shift system being blamed for shiftless student behaviour'. When are we going to get a grip and stop finding avenues to cast our blame? Could it not be this very behaviour we are trying to get rid of that we are feeding? Teaching our children that they can blame the system for their inappropriate behaviour?

I went to a shift school, had little supervision when my grandmother had to work to send me to the shift school, and I turned out to be an excellent product of the shift system. I went a prominent high school, studied for a career after that, and am now studying for a bachelor's degree. We need to as adults teach our children the right values and attitudes and that there are consequences for actions. I could have wasted my time and blamed it on the fact that my grandmother could not spend time with me, but when I saw how hard she had to work, the choice was clear. Parents need to bring their children up in the right way and people need to stop blaming the system for their shortcomings. Remember the story of the woman who did not reprimand her son for his wrongdoings and he went to prison. When she went to visit him, he bit off her ear and told her she should have warned him, (that is the version I know).

Parents are at the root of it. I agree children need supervision, but the schools cannot be responsible for what parents need to be doing and for events that do not happen on school premises. This is unreasonable!

I am, etc,

CAMESHA

mikelz29@yahoo.com

Houston, Texas

Via Go-Jamaica