Cheating for a school place

This issue has reared its head in the press again this week and has sparked much conversation and debate. The argument put forward this week is that more should be done to deter parents from lying to get their child in to the school of their choice and there should be a bigger crackdown on those parents that have done this.

Now if you ask many parents they will say that they want thee best for their children and I think you have to commend parents that put their children first and do anything they can to give their children the best upbringing possible but the question is where do you draw the line?

If you as a parent are willing to cheat and lie to get your child in to the school of your choosing what message does that send to your children. As parents we have to be examples to our children. There are other problems associated with cheating to get in to schools like if other children find out that you cheated to get your child in they may pick on your child or you yourself may have problems with other parents at the school.

Schools can be a bit of a postcode lottery at times which I don’t think is fair but cheating is not the answer. If you happen to have a house in the radius of a good school your lucky but then what can happen is that wealthier families can afford to buy and move in to houses near these schools to get their children in which isn’t cheating but unfair on low income families who can’t do that.

I think more needs to be done to improve failing or underperforming schools as this is the only way we will avoid this situation. At the moment it seems more is being done on the prevention side but not the cure. It is only when we work on the cure that we will improve education for young people which is the real issue here.

What are your thoughts on cheating to get a school place? We would love to know and you can share your thoughts by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=789

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
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