Why are teaching morals such a controversial and often debated subject?
A. One of the reasons teaching morals is so controversial is because of some of the teaching that has taken place. In the seventies, there was a cry for values. The educational system responded. They presented values clarification as the way to plant values into the lives of children. Values clarification, however, was another subtle approach to incorporate relativism. Everything children have been taught is taken apart and clarified: religion, sex, family, parents, feelings, attitudes, problems, etc. Nothing is personal or sacred. Children must be autonomous and decide freely, immature and unwise as they are and without parental input, their own set of values. That relativistic philosophy is still prevalent today. But thankfully, some schools are waking up and teaching positive values. Q. William Kilpatrick, in Why Johnny Can’t Tell Right From Wrong states: “The core problem facing our schools is a moral one. All other problems derive from it.” What about: poorly trained teachers, ove
