The lockouts at schools have become something like the first rain in the autumn or the traditional annual strike by the General Confederation of Greek Labor (GSEE) union.

Every fall, small groups of pupils take over entire school complexes with various demands that vary from the perfectly logical to the downright absurd. There is, for example, currently a lockout at a school in Athens because children are demanding “more products in the school canteen.”

It’s a fact that many schools have problems with their buildings and equipment. But lockouts do not solve these problems. In many cases, they actually make things worse, as people from outside the schools go on the rampage and cause damage that the taxpayer ends up paying for.

The Greek education system is not experiencing its brightest period at the moment. Many people over a number of years are responsible for this but the responsibility of parents is even greater. They have to explain to their children that lockouts make the problem worse and that shortages are not solved by missing classes.