Disciplining school children

I refer to the letter from Etie S. Dirapradja published in The Jakarta Post on Oct. 20, entitled Who should be responsible?

Your letter was indeed the greatest humiliation that you have ever caused yourself by telling the world that you're the worst mother of all time.

It was the greatest joke that I've ever come across to read about a mother who can't "discipline" her own daughter, but to put the blame on the school for doing the "disciplinary" job on her behalf.

Being on time is one of the most important social ethics that one should learn at a young age. And the school is the perfect place for all children to learn about beautiful social ethics. All of us know that schools are a disciplinary ground for students. Schools setting rules and regulations is to help discipline students to prepare them for this competitive world in the future.

And being on time while attending school is the No. 1 world mandatory rule that a child should learn when first starting school. As this action not only shows the respect that they have for themselves, but also reflects respect that they have for teachers, schoolmates and school.

When you selected the school for your daughter, you should have taken into consideration the school's location. So, please don't use distance or heavy traffic as excuses for being late.

Instead of being shocked when the teacher informed you that your daughter had missed school for so many days, you should have felt traumatized that your daughter had not been truthful to you all this while. From what I read, it seems that your teenage daughter rather enjoyed being late and not attending school. If your daughter had been honest and discussed the problem with you on the very first day that she was late, as a concerned mother you would have made proper arrangements to ensure that she reached school on time.

The school has been doing the right job by planting the "seeds" of being on time at the early age. Try not being on time when boarding a plane, attending an important business meeting, an interview, seminar, movie or concert; do you think they will wait for your arrival before starting the event? Think harder because that would only happen in your wildest dreams!

BELLE SANJAYA, Bandung