Who should be teaching children values?

This question evolved from the responses that I received to my original questions and the way in which it evolved struck me.  When I posed the question of who has a right to teach children their values, I got a lot of passionate responses.  For the most part I received the same answer, parents have the right and the responsibility to teach their children values.

Family/Parents:
"Ideally, one would hope that parents are playing a key role in the development of their children's values but I think that it is becoming more and more of the case where the parents are not playing a significant role in their child's education."


"It is not the responsibility of the school to explicitly teach values.  The values that are inherent in the school’s policies and behavior expectations must reflect the values of the community, which includes the values of the families that send their children to school.  When the community includes differing values, the school must make room for those differences."

"Teachers and parents have a responsibility to model those values so that children may learn how to demonstrate them throughout their schooling and life outside of school."

"I believe it is the parents’ responsibility to teach values.  I do not believe that it is the school’s responsibility to be active teachers of variables, as in direct-instruction."




I would agree with these sentiments when I take them into reference for myself and my life.  But when I apply them to the students that I have come into contact with, I am left feeling less certain.
I see a growing disconnection in children.  A disconnection from the nuclear family, from a set beliefs system, and from society itself.  Maybe a reason for this is as our society becomes more globalized, people are no longer certain that their set of beliefs is the "right" one.  In our search for a more interconnected world, we are detaching ourselves.  One of my respondents spoke directly to my thoughts in this quote:

"...the problem our society faces is that perhaps within the last 20 years, parents are increasingly not accepting that challenge (the challenge of teaching values).  I think part of that is that they have become more globally aware, their world is larger than their parents' or grandparents'.  They have less certainty that their way is the right way.  They want to be politically correct but sometimes it just amounts to wishy-washy.  Kids really do want to know what their parents think and why they think it."