The school and its impact on delinquency

Abstract

The school is an important social context for young people's socialization as they spend a considerable amount of time there. At school, they make friends and are supervised by their teachers. However, the role of the school in the lives of children is often underestimated. When compulsory education was introduced in most countries in the nineteenth century, the school taught - in addition to reading, writing and arithmetic- cultural norms and values, such as industriousness, hard work and how to behave according to the social norm. Teachers used to reward orderliness, diligence, self-control and respect for others, while they would punish children when they were careless or wouldn't pay attention. Virtues such as the love for God and one's country, a child's duties towards his parents, thrift and honesty found their roots in Christian morality and traditional conceptions of good citizenship.