Paul Crepet, Psychiatrist, comments on the 5th article of the “Charter of the Rights of the Family”
We asked the psychiatrist, psychologist and writer Paul Crepet, to comment on Art. 5 of the “Charter of the Rights of the Family.” Among his writings are: “L’autorità perduta” [Lost Authority] (2011), “Sfamiglia” [The Disrupted Family] (2009), “I figli non crescono più” [Children don’t grow up anymore] (2005).
«I think that today it’s not possible to distinguish clearly the degree of importance among the three educational actors. Parents, of course, have the task of giving their children the first and primary education, and this is above all an education of the sentiments; however, today, there are many educational collaborators that are sometimes rivals: school, friends, and the media. Often, the time spent outside the home is greater than that spent with the family.Although the father and the mother are not the only depositaries of their children‘s education, their role is distinct and fundamental, and it’s a right and a duty that must be exercised in the best possible way, even in our time, which is no friend of feelings and of the family, which has no time for those who need time. Even in this moment of crisis, parents are willing to invest in their children’s education. As I have put in the past, parents are ‘flight instructors’ by teaching to live, helping the children to put on a parachute, and then accompanying them to the edge and watching them soar; they assume the risks and responsibilities. The role of parents is not to protect their children from life’s dangers, from freedom, but rather to help them to face the adventure of living with the best tools. Educating means opening to freedom. Their educational goal is to help the children to become better adults than they themselves are».