Moral values

In spite of the pervasive relativism in our society, there is in fact a very high degree of moral consensus in relation to the 'classroom virtues'. Most parents, whatever their cultural background, want their children to be taught to behave well in social situations; and schools, though they are not the only place where such lessons are learned, can be immensely influential on moral matters. However, there are also many moral issues over which people disagree, especially within the public and quasi-political domain, and the disparity of views in these areas has sometimes been taken to justify teacher neutrality on moral issues generally. It would be unfortunate, however, if the existence of moral pluralism with respect to certain controversial issues were to inhibit schools from teaching pupils how to behave and initiating them into the civilized values of our society.