I’m a school secretary & with one glance can tell who the naughty kids who wreak havoc are – just look at the parents

PARENTING is not an easy job, nobody will claim that it is.

However, as a secretary for a school in York, the Nature Vs Nurture debate is always interesting when studying children’s behaviour in school and out. 

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Our Secret School Secretary revealed some of her insights on students’ behaviour[/caption]

And sometimes the word ‘nurture’ could not be further from the truth.

The May half term is often the time when the true colours of children – and thereby their parents – are shown, and it usually depends on what type of week it turns out to be.

The Sunny Week

Long sunny days are always welcomed, but these can bring out some of the worst behaviour in children, especially those with lackadaisical parenting. 

The freedom of not having to get up in the morning for the school run, coupled with yet another bank holiday, can make for situations where it is: Pub Beer Garden 1 – Children 0. 

Not that the children care, they are free to roam until all hours with parents unconcerned about their whereabouts – the police can always bring them home if they get into too much trouble. 

Most children won’t cause any issues within the community – after all, most of them do realise it’s their community as much as anyone else’s – but it can be disconcerting to see huge groups wandering the streets, especially if you’re over 70 and feel that anyone under 18 is either going to rob you blind or whack you with a homemade weapon.

The Rainy Week

Most children will be cooped up inside, getting under their parents’ feet, but generally able to keep themselves amused without too much bother. 

Others are to be found hanging out in small groups in parks and on estates, hoods up against the rain, eyes squinting through the smoke of the one cigarette they are all sharing. 

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Even if you can’t see them you will still be able to hear their catcalls and foul language. 

These are the children who in school are to be found on the corridors, refusing to conform by actually going into their timetabled lessons. 

Parents of these children are more likely to work against school rather than with us, frequently arguing that school staff are unfairly targeting their precious offspring – believe it or not, teachers and pastoral staff do want the very best for each and every child in their care, they have nothing to gain by making anyone’s life difficult!

The “Everyone’s on holiday” Week:

Children are bored, their mates are away on holiday and YouTube can only hold their attention for so long. 

This is when small pockets of children start appearing in random places – on the top of storage containers, scaling walls of allotments scaring pensioners, or generally mucking out in front of shops and supermarkets. 

Maybe these children have been on holiday already, taken out of school during term-time, and now their parents just want them out from under their feet.

The majority of children out and about are harmless, even if they are loud and obnoxious. 

We as adults have forgotten what it’s like to have to jostle for top spot in the conversation – whoever shouts the loudest or can come up with the crudest language gets to be top dog. 

It’s the ones who skirt on the fringes of criminality we have to worry about, those whose parents say to school that they “don’t know what to do with them” as if this absolves them of any responsibility.

Unfortunately, as a society we do seem to have a swathe of parents who don’t know how to set boundaries and expectations, and ultimately, how to parent. 

It does make you wonder how the next generation are going to fare.