Thank you, Louise Clegg (“Blaming a school over sexual assaults just a cop-out”, August 24), for your timely reminder that schools are not the answer to all of society’s ills. Parents have primary responsibility for the values displayed by their children and, in most cases, the apple does not fall far from the tree. There are, however, no guarantees that come with parenting. It is a tough gig. What would help in the current educational environment is for those parents so inclined to cease their aggressive defence of their children, despite being provided with evidence of their bad behaviour at school. The attacks on principals, staff and teachers increase every year, and some have become physical. No wonder we lose many young teachers from the profession. Chris McGregor, Breakfast PointHands up for those in favour of teaching consent at home and at schoolGettyLouise Clegg’s refreshingly accurate take on recent alleged sexual assaults by schoolboys was sorely needed. Parents have their children for a few years before they set foot in a school – and after that, only a small number of waking hours is spent on school grounds. The home environment has a greater impact on education outcomes than the school, so the home’s impact on character and behaviour must be even greater still. I don’t recall intense media scrutiny of the culture at the schools attended by the Skaf gang rapists. It seems that unless a teen sex offender attends an “elite” private school, their place of education doesn’t matter. Scott Hillard, New LambtonLouise Clegg suggests the whole problem at Scots (and presumably other elite schools) is the parents. Maybe so, but what then is the solution? What tools do we have to make them better parents? None, of course. The only way forward is compulsory consent education for their children. But I hear from Scots parents that the nature of consent education there is making things worse. It focuses on the threat that girls allegedly pose to the good name and reputation of the boys there, not on girls’ own rights, autonomy and understandable fear of toxic masculinity. What external checking is done on the content of these courses? And of course there is the problem of single-sex schools, an artificial environment that does not help to prepare children for the real world. Andrew Taubman, Queens ParkI find as I read of the culture of certain schools that my memory is more than a little jogged. I spent a happy year as a resident of New College at the University of NSW in the 1970s. Among the many young men and women were the products of a number of elite private boys boarding schools.By their speech, many of those had the worst attitude towards women that I have experienced before or since, speaking of them as prospective sexual conquests, willing or not, or even almost as property. I’m not aware of any situations where such speech was acted on, but you always wonder. It seems things haven’t changed a lot. Bill Irvine, GoulburnThose of us who have spent our careers working within schools know the expectations and pressures placed on schools and teachers to fix all of society’s problems. Teachers are expected to fill the parenting role as well as reach expectations in academic results for their students, and in expensive private schools, that role appears to be highlighted. Parents must accept responsibility for their children, in their homes, in social settings, on the sporting fields and at coffee shops. Schools can assist in guidance with experiences, while parents are often going alone with no experience. It can be a rough road to nurture adolescents from all positions of care. Janice Creenaune, AustinmerLouise Clegg says Scots issued a letter to parents that “Parents and families have the primary and enduring role in the formation of their children”. How right she is. As I finished my many years in education, I sadly witnessed more and more parents and carers blaming schools for all sorts of unacceptable behaviour that their children exhibited. Parents and carers must accept the fact that they, not necessarily the school, must be responsible for values and habits displayed by their children. Denis Suttling, Newport BeachLouise Clegg’s sympathy for private school headmasters is a bit rich. Both schools and parents have created and supported a system that privileges the children in their charge. Perhaps instead of growing Sydney’s next captains of industry, private schools should focus on producing good citizens. Colin Stokes, CamperdownRogue nation?David Farley apparently had one job: to support the One Nation policy on migration (“Hanson forced to rebuke her MP over immigration claim”, August 24). It’s not like it’s a difficult task to remember One Nation’s policy offerings; there aren’t many of them. Farley tried to explain them on television, sounding remarkably like a Labor spokesman. Thankfully, he has had the benefit of his leader’s insight since then and a clarification of what their non-mathematical policy means. Unlike Barnaby Joyce, he didn’t have to phone a friend to clarify an actual policy; he apparently used common sense. Is this his second strike? He did vote with the teals when left unsupervised in parliament while his leader was absent in Europe.It is difficult to imagine how One Nation would cope with more than one policy, or more than two lower house members. The main issue here is: what was Farley doing appearing on the ABC, a media organisation that does ask questions and is not favoured by One Nation’s leadership? Geoff Nilon, MascotMember for Farrer David Farley in Parliament HouseAlex EllinghausenBrothers in qualmsMichael Bachelard (“Brethren feed Taylor and Abbott in Nazi aftermath”, August 24) reports that the fringe Christian sect the Brethren spent millions of dollars attempting to influence the outcome of the last federal election.Coupled with the vast real estate portfolio held by its leaders and their families, and their reported $295 million in net assets, their funds are not being used for anything that should warrant their religious tax-exempt status. Their alleged use of payments to influencers and far-right activists to heckle Labor and independent candidates, as well as intimidation at the voting booths, warrants investigation and appropriate action needs to be taken. Truth and integrity, once deemed core Christian values, appear to be irrelevant both to the Brethren and to their main benefactors, the Coalition, which will gain no admirers from its attempts to undermine the electoral matters inquiry. Alan Marel, North Curl CurlGnat’s the wayAll credit to Canada and its courageous prime minister, Mark Carney, for standing up to the pompous bully in the White House, US President Donald Trump (“Canada walks away from US talks”, August 24). Carney has called for a coalition of middle powers to collectively oppose America’s unilateral economic belligerence. This might even give the EU the spine to adopt a stronger stance against Trump. Strength in numbers is the key to countering the blustering braggart who has “the attention span of a gnat”. If only more nations had the integrity of Mark Carney. Rob Phillips, North EppingCanadian Prime Minister Mark Carney standing up for his country.Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press via APIt can only be a matter of time before Trump threatens to bomb Canada. We’re lucky there are no bomber bases near us. Scott Poynting, NewtownUniversities need humans not AIConcerns over the increasing use of unmoderated AI are legitimate (“Backlash over NSW universities turning to AI for role in lectures”, August 24). It is easy to forget that the initial “A” in its name stands for “artificial”. The intelligence is not real. It is a clever distillation of data made to read like human prose or sound like speech. As such, it is not immune from the fundamental weakness of all computer-based systems: garbage in, garbage out. Where the source data is false, ambiguous or out of date it makes mistakes. Therein lies the danger. To assume the omniscience of AI, and to act on its sometimes misleading certainties, can lead to unfortunate consequences. Who, then, do we sue? David Salter, Hunter’s HillWhich way for AI?BloombergSally Rawsthorne reports how AI “continues its march on higher education”, with teaching being “the new frontier”. Yet again the role of a university in society and the significance of teaching at a university need to be revisited. Universities are not mechanised production lines. At the highest level, universities are about examining what it means to be human, continually reflecting on how we can better develop and what constrains our development. What marks us as being human is our ability to stand aside from the world that surrounds us, to reflect on our thinking, feelings and actions, and to be creative. The study of the Humanities is of the essence of a university and, indeed, civilisation. Use AI if it helps in any mechanical skills-related subjects. However, in the Humanities it is the quality of the personal interaction between students and human teachers that leads to the mutual development of knowledge, the imagination, and hopefully the ideal. Paul Casey, Callala BayNot only will students suffer from having AI-generated lecture content, spare a thought for casual academic staff, who will be replaced. It is now urgent for such staff to review their option of applying to be converted to permanency, via the Fair Work Act. A recent case at the Fair Work Commission made it clear universities have an obligation to convert, even if the casual is a teaching-only academic who operates on an ongoing basis. Universities will be desperate to limit this decision as casuals are easily disposed of while relevant EBAs make it much harder to remove permanent staff. Casuals have a fight on their hands to survive the AI revolution, and universities are only interested in the bottom line. Michael Blissenden, Castle HillAs Kirk Simmons proves (“A quick AI grocery-shop? Seems I was off my trolley”, August 24), AI is no genius yet. Thomas Edison once said, “Genius is one per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration”, which would indicate that anything running on artificial intelligence, and unable to perspire, would need to be controlled by a really intelligent human being. An egotistical alpha-male (or female) exhibiting AI mentality, who wants to dominate all of humanity for their own personal gain and glory, will never be able to reach the inspired solutions of a genius. Joy Cooksey, HarringtonTechnology is advancing so rapidly that it can’t be long before we’ll be able to clone Mitchell Starc. Bernie Bourke, OurimbahMitchell Starc, how many would you like?Getty ImagesJohn Howard’s shameYour correspondent (Letters, August 24) highlighted John Howard’s flaws as treasurer in 1982. It’s not only his economic credentials that are questionable, but that his morality when prime minister concerning the children overboard affair was appalling. When PM in 2001, he brought shame on every Australian by being the only and first country in the world to break the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, The Obligation to Aid. Howard as PM refused to respond to a mayday distress call from the Norwegian container ship MV Tampa – which had just rescued 433 asylum seekers in the Indian Ocean. I am lost for words to describe a PM who so wilfully treated the poorest people in the world so badly. Tony Lewis, Mount VictoriaAway with gasIt’s clear that our dependence on gas for certain industrial processes will continue for some time, so it is vital that we reduce its use in other areas – principally, people’s homes (“Domestic gas policy sparks industrial revival hopes”, August 24). The first thing to be done is to ban its installation in all new constructions. Next, we need to replace gas heating systems with air conditioners and heat pumps, and kitchen ranges with induction cooktops. For some homes, this is relatively easy and will lead to significant savings. But for others it is hard or near-impossible, so it will require greater subsidies from the government. But in the end, we’ll all be better off. Emissions will fall, energy bills will decline and industries will have better access to gas until cleaner, commercially viable technologies come along. Ken Enderby, ConcordCathy WilcoxDo (Not) CallAs I hang up on yet another caller offering me low-interest loans/ health insurance comparisons/ solar panel and battery quotes etc, I sigh and hope that the new gambling “opt out” legislation will work better than the Do Not Call Register to which I have subscribed for years (“Human cost of delays gets forgotten”, August 24). Perhaps I will be surprised, but I suspect not. Ian Morris, StrathfieldHeir-line fracturesAre Harry and Meghan walking back to a warm welcome?APIt doesn’t take a trip to an aptly named local boozer to know that Harry and Meghan’s U-turn on calling Britain home doesn’t pass the pub test (‴⁣⁣Scroungers’ or worth a second chance: What Londoners think of the Sussexes”, August 24). Having dumped their duties and a bucket of bile on their experience in “the firm”, it will take more than a few charitable photo ops to return to favour with the Brits. As for family reparations, heir-line fractures are the hardest to heal. Janet Argall, Hurlstone ParkA win at lastFinally, against all the odds, the Wests Tigers have had a win for the ages (“Immense Tigers hit Roosters’ title hopes”, August 24). Congratulations to the team. Tom Hubble, HaberfieldTo submit a letter to the Sydney Morning Herald, email letters@smh.com.au. 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