Comment on "An antidote to money-oriented education" (China Daily, May 11)

While I agree with the sentiment of the article, I have to say that trying to control students’ development more might not be the best answer.

It seems to me that many of the students, especially those in High School, are not allowed enough time to get to know themselves and they are spending too much time in classes with teachers trying to tell them who they should be.

There is almost no time for students to spend time on developing themselves, finding their own hobbies or spending time with family. While it is part of a teacher's obligation to try to instill good qualities in their students, it is not solely their burden to bear.

The family is also responsible to set a good example for their children and also to guide them through all the moral issues that children have to deal with in their daily lives.

But, as you can see at almost any high school, most students do not go home, but live in their dorms for the majority of the year, and many of them only spend time with their parents during holidays. How can any child be expected to learn who they are when they spend so little time with those who created them? How can the children discover who they really want to be if they are constantly being told by their teachers what kind of person they ought to be?

It's one thing to teach a student what kind of person to be, but it's another thing entirely to lead them down that path. Students are always learning motivational slogans, but rarely do any of those students take those slogans to heart, rather the dearth of uplifting phrases may actually be bringing many of those students further down.

If teachers really want to inspire students to be better, they need only better themselves; real-world role models (not the kind you see on TV) are worth more to a students’ well-being than almost anything else in their lives.

This burden can't be born solely by teachers, though, parents and other members of the community must also set a good example for the students, or they will grow up to be the same as their forefathers.

Many older people tend to decry the destruction of youth's morals, but they fail to recognize that it is their own shortcomings that have brought about that destruction. There is a saying, "it takes a village to raise a child," and the better the village, the better the child.

Matt Smith on China Daily website

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