I READ with interest a newspaper report on disciplining children in school.

Children are like adults - they have emotional ups and downs, and they need love, care and guidance as well as discipline at each stage of maturity.

The difference between kids and adults is that children find it harder to differentiate between right and wrong, and to make the right decision at the right time.

The deterioration in the standards of discipline in the United Kingdom has led the country to explore reasons for the decline and remedies for the situation.

This has also been the case in the United States and Singapore.

Whenever a child goes against social norms and exhibits anti-social behaviour, he or she needs to be duly counselled and disciplined in order to learn from his or her mistakes.

Discipline is not limited to physical punishment.

It also includes love and the patience to teach a child how to get back onto the right path.

I hope all parents can spend more time with their growing children despite their busy schedules, so that they can share their thoughts and interests with each other.

The vital role of parenting should not be left to domestic helpers. No matter how capable they are, they can never be a substitute for parents.

Similarly, educators also play an important role in educating youngsters, motivating them and shaping their values, aside from their routine duty of imparting knowledge and experience.

Only then can Singapore's kids truly benefit from education.

Mr Teo Kueh Liang

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