Parents of public school students were given the chance to voice their concerns during a listening forum sponsored by Bermuda?s Education Strategic Team (BEST) last week.

Two concerns voiced by several parents were public schools?? accountability and the affects of materialism on children.

Parents discussed their concerns with a panel of four members of the education community.

They included former Berkeley Institute principal Dr. Clifford Maxwell, president of the National Parent Teacher Association Wendy Augustus, manager for human resources at Conyers, Dill and Pearman and former teacher Sandra Butterfield, and Prospect Primary Parent Teacher Association president Calvert Harvey. Arlene Brock was the moderator for the two-hour forum.

Audience member Michael Bradshaw said holding people accountable for Bermuda?s students? education was not about punishment.

?We have to realise that there will be some ups and downs,? he said. ?We can give (educators) goals, objectives and timelines but it?s not about punishment. We can?t look on accountability as punishment because we ignore the people who are meeting the goals.?

He added: ?We have to share the accountability but we need to stop making it punitive.?

A former teacher who started teaching in 1954 said that children were being allowed to fill their minds with all the ?garbage from the rest of the world?.

The woman did not give her name but added: ?Adults are being caught up in it too.?

She said ?materialism has taken over? and that we need to check what priorities we are teaching our children.

?Children all don?t learn the same and they don?t have the same desires.?

Director of Single Parents in Action Althea Iris said: ?It (materialism) is spreading like a virus. We all want just to want. It?s a small town mentality.?

Ms Brock said the issues being brought up during the forum were not ?unique? to Bermuda.

?Everyone around the world is grappling with how we deal with this,? she said.

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