Minister for Education Mary Hanafin has expressed concern about new trends in Irish family life, where some guilt-ridden parents lavish money and designer goods on their children - instead of spending time with them, writes Seán Flynn, Education Editor
Some parents, she said, are "quicker to give their children money rather than time - and that is the problem".
In an interview in today's Irish Times she also expressed concern about young people's obsession with designer labels and the intense peer pressure to drink to excess.
She said: "I have seen girls who have spent a fortune looking absolutely amazing with their dress and their tan and their hair and the rest . . . and within a few hours they are unable to stand."
On consumerism, she said: "The idea of a waiting list for the Louis Vuitton shop in Brown Thomas for a small bag worn by teenagers saddens me, I have to say."
Ms Hanafin spoke at some length about a so-called "cash-rich/time-poor" Irish society, where there is a growing distance between many parents and their children.
"Increasingly, we have a situation where parents say they would die for their children - and they would. But the same people, some of them would give them money quicker than they would give them time and that is the problem.
"I think time is a huge issue. A huge amount of our young people have TVs in their rooms, computers in their rooms and any amount of technology. What this is tending to do is to cut them off from their families.
"I think parents believe they are doing the best for their child; it is not that they are saying 'We have no time for you', and cutting them off. They feel they are doing their best."
The Minister also expressed concern about the vandalism which accompanied some of this year's Leinster Senior Cup rugby matches.
"I think where any school finds that what should be healthy competition in sport develops into feuding, they have to take a very serious look at it. If it was left to me, I would take people off teams or take action against the supporters involved."
She also criticised the impact of the "grind culture" on education. "Students are believing the hype. There is the notion that if you pay for something you will get more out of it."
The Minister was speaking ahead of this week's annual round of teacher conferences, where the most pressing issue will be the apparent decline in school discipline.
Ms Hanafin said some media coverage gives the impression that law and order has broken down in our schools, but that isn't the case. She is committed to changing Section 29 of the Education Act, making it easier for schools to expel unruly pupils.
Some 50 special support teams will be in place across the country shortly to assist those schools who are experiencing difficulties.
The Minister praised UCD, UCC and Trinity College for the reform programmes they have introduced. She expressed concern about declining standards in maths and foreign languages in schools and suggested imminent reform of Leaving Certificate Irish, which, she said, is too literature-based.
On overcrowded classrooms, she said the commitments made in the Programme for Government "might have been met if we did not have the other priorities - special needs, disadvantage and foreign-national students. In the last five years the priorities shifted and I make no apologies for it."
Full interview: page 11;
Editorial comment: page 15