The Role of Parents and Teachers in Moral Training : หน้า 134/164

Suzanne Jeffrey "The teachers have a double duty, one of moral training and the other of academic training. So how do we solve this problem of teaching children what is good and bad? We train the parents, too! We need to have the parents, the teachers, and the temple (moral leaders or religious leaders) all working together. If the father ordains, for example, he understands what moral behavior really is. If the mother does Upasika training, then she understands as well. Then both parents understand moral behavior and can teach it to their children. Parents need to find the Dhamma and train together. This solution takes a great deal of effort, but it must be done together. We definitely have to do something because we cannot simply sit around as we watch our society deteriorate. "And, so, we help children develop good habits when they are young. It is repetitive action that is developed from seeking the four elements. And we can use the model of the five rooms in which to teach them: good character developed from the (1) bedroom, (2) bathroom, (3) dressing room, (4) kitchen/dining room/living room/computer room, and (5) school or workplace. These five areas are the training ground for good moral development. If we follow this into the six directions, we will see that our true friends have the same model, and that this model is the road map to success. "But, first, when you want to affect the development of good habits in your students, you must look at yourself. If you have good habits, then your students will develop good habits as well. But if you do not, then you must first correct yourself, and then correct your students!" 1PM "We have been learning about the six directions in its smallest unit and how it applies to society. The Buddha set this up for us in order to solve the problems of human behavior and because we were born in ignorance. Ignorance is why we experiment. We try, but then we make mistakes. If we have no one around us to help us learn good habits, these mistakes will lead us to bad habits. We think, of course, that if we destroy things, we can rebuild them. But if we develop bad habits, we will be generating baap, and it will take us a long time to recognize what we have done and to correct those bad habits. We are usually proud of our good habits and we certainly do not like to recognize our bad ones. It takes a great deal of mental and physical strength to change our bad habits. And we can change them only if we recognize that we have them, and then have the willpower and courage and opportunity in which to change them.