A parish school is a microcosm of parish life

A parish school is a window into the life of what happens in the homes of the school children.  If adults are loving, their children will know that they are loved and will be loving, or at least kind, to their classmates.  If adults are competitive, so will their children be.  If adults know how to make things right after an argument or a blow up, then their children will also recognize when they need to repair some damage done by thoughtless or hurtful words or actions.  If adults call their children "stupid" when their parenting skills are stressed, then their children will believe they are stupid and will act stupidly by calling a classmate stupid or worse.  If adults pray, their children will pray.  If adults think that Sunday Mass can be dispensed with, they teach their children that something is more important than God, which is idolatry: something has become a false god.  The greatest challenge for a parish school is to create among the school families a sense of belonging to the kind of community that encourages the virtues of the Christian life.  In that kind of environment there will be no bullying.