Rampant practices of corruption in all sectors of life and at all levels of government remind us to seek the causes of this social disease and the way how to avoid it early in our children's lives. Indonesia is among the most popular example of countries where the practice of corruption is rampant, especially before the establishment of Corruption Eradication Commission or more popularly called KPK in Indonesia. Why do so many people commit the crimes of corruption of various magnitude in all sectors of life? Where does the root of this social disease lie? We have to seriously study the causes of corruption to be able to teach our young generation to abolish this social disease. Many of us may not realize that we have indirectly taught or given our children a bad example of behaviour or attitude which may lead to justification of corruption.
My youngest daughter, who was then 9 years old and a pupil of a public elementary school told me one day that I should not expect her to be selected as the best achiever in her class while she still belonged to the class where she was then. I asked her the reason. She told me that there was a mother of one of her classmates who was very active in bribing the homeroom teacher and other teachers by giving them fruits, cakes, and various other presents that the other students' mothers did not do. My daughter who was very young at that time could perceive that something was wrong with one of her classmates' mother. My daughter had formed a conclusion based on her past experience that her classmate's mother had tried to help her child obtain the status of the best achiever by bribing the homeroom teacher with various presents. At the end of the academic year, my daughter could see that her classmate was selected as the best achiever in her class. And this practice went on for years until my daughter and her classmate finished the elementary school. I told my daughter that it was not a good habit to bribe a teacher for a good grade or status. It was okay to be the second best as long as you obtained it through a fair way. When my daughter and her classmate continued their study to the same junior high school, the mother of my daughter's classmate could no longer continue her habit of bribing the teachers' of her daughter. And the results of her daughter's academic achievements dropped drastically. She could not even achieve the category of the best twenty in the classroom, while my daughter could achieve the status of the best achiever in her class. I told my daughter: "Now you see, who the real best student is."
The above example is based on a true story of how a mother has wrongly taught her child the practice of corruption without realizing the fact that what she did was wrong. Bribing teachers by parents who want their children to achieve the status of being the best student in the class or in the school is common practice in Indonesia. The parents do not realize that they help their children in a wrong way. Actually, by bribing teachers for their children's academic status, they unconsciously weaken the motivation of their own children to struggle for being the best in a normal and fair manner. The children will consider that everything can be arranged by their parents with bribery. This practice will be considered something common by the children. They will think that other people also do the same as what their parents do. If they are persistent doing this into adulthood, then their parents have succeeded in teaching them to be would-be corruptors when they hold a public official position.
My youngest daughter, who was then 9 years old and a pupil of a public elementary school told me one day that I should not expect her to be selected as the best achiever in her class while she still belonged to the class where she was then. I asked her the reason. She told me that there was a mother of one of her classmates who was very active in bribing the homeroom teacher and other teachers by giving them fruits, cakes, and various other presents that the other students' mothers did not do. My daughter who was very young at that time could perceive that something was wrong with one of her classmates' mother. My daughter had formed a conclusion based on her past experience that her classmate's mother had tried to help her child obtain the status of the best achiever by bribing the homeroom teacher with various presents. At the end of the academic year, my daughter could see that her classmate was selected as the best achiever in her class. And this practice went on for years until my daughter and her classmate finished the elementary school. I told my daughter that it was not a good habit to bribe a teacher for a good grade or status. It was okay to be the second best as long as you obtained it through a fair way. When my daughter and her classmate continued their study to the same junior high school, the mother of my daughter's classmate could no longer continue her habit of bribing the teachers' of her daughter. And the results of her daughter's academic achievements dropped drastically. She could not even achieve the category of the best twenty in the classroom, while my daughter could achieve the status of the best achiever in her class. I told my daughter: "Now you see, who the real best student is."
The above example is based on a true story of how a mother has wrongly taught her child the practice of corruption without realizing the fact that what she did was wrong. Bribing teachers by parents who want their children to achieve the status of being the best student in the class or in the school is common practice in Indonesia. The parents do not realize that they help their children in a wrong way. Actually, by bribing teachers for their children's academic status, they unconsciously weaken the motivation of their own children to struggle for being the best in a normal and fair manner. The children will consider that everything can be arranged by their parents with bribery. This practice will be considered something common by the children. They will think that other people also do the same as what their parents do. If they are persistent doing this into adulthood, then their parents have succeeded in teaching them to be would-be corruptors when they hold a public official position.
