The social education gap report of a Dutch peer-consultation project on family policy

Like their fellow Europeans, many Dutch citizens worry about the moral deca y of their youth. Often the family is blamed; (other) parents have failed i n their moral education. Recently the Dutch Government asked the present au thors to advise them on family policy, taking young people's opinions into account. We asked a group of 24 pupils from vocational schools, aged 14 and 15 and from different ethnic origins, to interview ten classmates each on the subject and to discuss the results with us. Their findings were astonis hing. The teenagers, mostly from underprivileged neighbourhoods, said that the problem was not so much the family, but the whole of their 'educational ' environment. Occasional family problems can easily get out of hand becaus e of what we term a 'social education gap'. Neither within their neighbourh oods, nor within their large, anonymous schools do they find enough adults who really care, see to their safety or provide help and attractive activit ies. To them, the family and the outside world are interdependent education al entities. The absence of caring adults in their social world puts all th e pressure on their families, an unfair burden that some parents cannot bea r. Their advice to the Government was therefore: invest in educating adults and facilities, and involve young people in policy-making.