DEAR ABBY: In a recent column, one of your readers recommended that schools add anger management classes to the curriculum. I am a schoolteacher, and I don't know how we're going to fit any more into our curriculum and do it effectively.
We teach drug awareness, tobacco awareness, AIDS education, kids voting, helmet safety and stranger danger, to name a few. Oh, yes -- we also teach reading, writing, math, language, social studies, science, health, music, art and physical education.
Why does our society expect schools to teach it all? Whatever happened to parenting? Parents should be taking the classes on how to be parents. Perhaps that would leave the "school" subjects to the teachers. -- PHOENIX EDUCATOR
DEAR EDUCATOR: I agree that it's unfair to demand that schools teach children that which should be taught at home by the parents. However, the majority of families these days have two working parents, and consequently many children are virtually raising themselves.
The task of parenting is more difficult when the parent is gone the majority of the time -- but it's not impossible. The best things parents can give their children are time and undivided attention. They should listen to their children with a discerning ear. It takes patience, setting a good example, organizing one's priorities and choosing one's battles. For parents who feel that knack is beyond them, many books have been written on the subject.