The issue of domestic violence was

the subject of a special "national cabinet" meeting yesterday. This morning there are several articles in the paper about the "outcomes" as well. 

There is one headlines stating "it starts with teens". Really? I thought the issue starts with small children. It starts from the time they are able to know right from wrong doesn't it? 

Apparently not. Instead there are efforts to blame social media and other issues. This is surely the easy way out?  I am not suggesting social media is not a problem. It clearly is a problem but it seems to me it is more than that. 

We need to teach small children that violence is not acceptable and some would say we do but we need to teach it at home, not just in the day care centre where the child is apparently "cared" for while both parents go to work. Day care centres may claim to teach all sorts of things but the reality is that they have an agenda which does not align with respect for women in adulthood. That agenda is continued on into school years and by the time students reach high school ideas about sexuality, racism, equality, the oppression of some groups and not others is firmly fixed. The idea of "respect for others" is taught in accordance with those ideas. It is not taught as "respect for all" or "do unto others" even while there are claims to the contrary. 

The first school my goddaughter attended had a firm contract with parents. The children were not permitted to watch television. If a child was heard talking about television programs the parents were given a warning. On the third strike the child had to be removed from the school. It was an extraordinary policy but, twenty something years ago, it worked. Parents chose that school and they chose that policy. The students were known for, among other things, good manners. The boys were actually taught to open doors for girls, make sure the girls were seated and even to walk on the outside of the footpaths. The students would raise their hand to ask a question in class and they called their teachers "Mr", "Mrs" and "Miss" (not Ms). I do not think it would work now but recently I was talking to someone whose daughter and both sons attended the same school. Those former students she knows still show respect for each other "but of course as parents we supported all that". 

And there perhaps is part of the problem. Too many parents have handed over the teaching of too much. The have handed it over to people they believe are teaching their children what is right from what is wrong. I suspect many teachers do try but without parental backing it may not succeed. Teachers also have to try and teach those things while also teaching ideas about "equality" and "oppression" - ideas which sometimes run counter to respect.