"Children close their ears to advice and open their eyes to example" , some very wise person said.

It is galling enough for most pupils to be sent to a place they have little or no say in, a place invented and administered by adults - but then to be preached to about values and behaviour, turns them deaf to advice very quickly.

Added to this is the sheer hypocrisy of the adult world.  Pupils must obey the rules, but the staff can bend or break the rules when they wish.  Why should pupils listen and act on the advice of their teachers, who are seen, in this context, as hypocrites and autocrats?

I have sat through countless school assemblies, listening to teachers and heads preach the gospel of harmony and peace, to totally uninterested and cynical audiences.  And then, once outside the hall, a fight breaks out!

Preaching, of any kind, is a waste of time and words.  By all means state your values, but if you think that by simply telling someone to be 'good' will, in  any way, touch the roots of why they are not 'good', think again!

The French writer, Joseph Joubert, summed it up well when he said:
 
"Children have more need of models than critics".