Letter: Why education is better than law enforcement
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Your support makes all the difference.Sir: Cardinal Hume ('Time to examine the nation's soul', 8 March) touches upon a vital weakness in the fabric of our society, and while I applaud much of what he says in his call for a Royal Commission on ways in which family life may be regenerated, I feel that there is a pressing need to address the apparent decline in morality and the social malaise in which we find ourselves.
At a time when there is widespread revulsion at the increased propensity for violence in the community and an apparent increase in crime that is said to be unchecked, at least in part, by a police service that is alleged to be failing in competence and effect, there is a need to promote the understanding that education is as vital a part of crime prevention and social well-being as is enforcement of the law. Indeed, it is a declared preference of Grampian Police that, whenever possible and appropriate, it is better to educate than to enforce.
Traditional family values are important, but it is not easy to restore the family unit when all around us there is evidence of its decline; and it would be foolish to rely solely on the family as the mainstay of community morals and social mores. Those standards must be held up through national institutions. Of course, the church has a vital part to play, but sadly it may be said to have a declining influence, and our trust must also be placed in national and common social institutions.
I have a great deal of sympathy for the view, expressed by some educationists, that it is not possible to dump all of society's problems in the classrooms and expect teachers to deal with them. Nevertheless, a combined initiative between the Department of Education and the Home Office is necessary if we are to lay the foundations for a better future and restored values. A core syllabus promoting acceptable social standards must he introduced into our classrooms it we are to address the moral malaise to which the Cardinal refers.
Of course, other initiatives are desirable and necessary, and the Cardinal may well wish to recapture the moral high ground by promoting an ecumenical and inter-disciplinary commission along the lines of his proposed Royal Commission.
Yours etc,
IAN OLIVER
Chief Constable
Grampian Police
Aberdeen
8 March
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