The physical environment of the house has a direct impact on the moral disposition of a child. Young children inherit their values from their parents. It is difficult to be amiable when one's family life is wrecked and one stop stealing from a toy shop when one has not enjoyed toys.

One's moral nature is formed very early in life. The institution of education allows access of all children to school. Therefore both home and school are important factors in developing one's moral character. Some schools have extra periods termed as moral science while others use the term value education to inculcate moral values into the young minds. Way back in school my teacher told stories from the Bible and Aesop's Fables to teach us moral values.

Socialisation induces an individual to adhere to the rules of society and allows him to play the roles prescribed to him. Moral consciousness is analogous to what one has learnt. Schools not only teach children to become useful members of society, but also shape their moral character and educate them on the dictates of morality.

In order to mould a child's moral nature and allow it to operate in a desired way, cooperation of the home and the school is needed. The Parent's Teacher Association (PTA) is the most important channel and teachers have to don on the coat of parents and the school becomes the family. For young children, there can be direct moral teaching. The teacher becomes the mentor. Examples of honesty, perseverance, generosity, responsibility, loyalty are given in order to prepare the students with a particular moral ethos and also to sustain it.

As the child grows and enters his teens he adopts the common youth culture with its bizarre clothing and long hair. The moral science teacher has to take all this in her stride. She has to show, sensitivity towards the children in their age of `storm and stress.' Value education depends a lot on the attitude of the teacher. Now the teacher does not have to resort to long boring speeches, rather open classroom discussions are the way.

Ranjit Singh Sandhu, a progressive gentleman farmer and an alumnus of Bishop Cotton School, Shimla reminiscences his founding years at this elite boarding school, where the remnants of Victorian moral values a still to be found. In the dining hall, the young students were not allowed to talk during meals and all those who did had to own up on their own. This inculcated the quality of accepting one's mistakes and instilled the courage of conviction.