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Originally Posted by SykkBoy
the bigger problem is parents
we held out first PTA Open House night of year last night and a grand total of 17 people showed up (not counting board members)
600 students at the school and only 17 could be bothered to pull their fat asses away from their TV sets to discuss issues that affect their kids. Fucking disgusting.
I volunteer a lot of time at my kids' school and participate in a lot of school activities and the attendence from parents is abysmal. They don't seem to take any interest in their kids' educations, so why should their kids?
Maybe I'm lucky that my kids attend a school where the teachers have been outstanding? My oldest son has selectvie mutism and requires a special type of teacher (one that doesn't frustrate easy and doesn't mind me having to explain selective mutsim for the 100th time). He's had some amazing teachers and a very supportive staff at the school. I've found his teachers to be very caring and I even know most of them on a personal out of school basis and they are very dedicated, hardworking and grossly underpaid for what they do. The biggest complaint they have (besides pay) is lack of parental involvement in their children's education. Example: my son's teacher last year would send home a homework and progress report every Friday night for me to discuss with my son over the weekend, sign and return. She said less than 25% return those on a regular basis. I was stunned. I remember one weekend where I was a little busy and forgot to sign one of the reports and felt bad, then found out most parents didn't even bother to return them at all.
How many parents bother contacting the teachers of their kids on a monthly or semimonthly basis? How many even know the name of the principal of their kids' school?
I tell you, the last year of my serving on the PTA/PTO board has really opened my eyes. If the parents sending their kids to school don't give a shit about what they are learning, why should the kids?
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I am not going to even discuss parents at this point, I could go on for far too long, (I plan on going on for a lifetime in fact, in Child Advocate law) ...about parents passing the buck of responsibility off to other factors.
Teachers are put in a very difficult position on a lot of levels, they are expected to be role models, and on some levels disciplinarians and that's where they get really stuck between a rock and a hard place... on one hand you have the parents who are only all too happy to let the teacher be the main disciplinarian, which makes them out to be the "bad guy" and the kid sees that the parents don't care so why should they & their respect for the teacher goes down the tube & the kids grades drop & suddenly the teacher "isn't doing their job" because the kid isn't learning anything. Then you've got some of those parents who are horrified at the thought of a teacher being a disciplinarian and if the teacher even tries to do such the parent gets outraged & infuriated & if the kid acts up in class then the teacher can't really do anything (parents will complain to administration and that's just too much hassle) and so the kid gets away with whatever, doesn't learn anything, and suddenly the teacher isn't doing their job. *rolls eyes*
When I have kids I do not expect that I shall be sending them to public schools at all, I would rather take the time, research the options in private schools, have meetings with the private schools faculty & administration, in all honesty I'd want to meet with my child's instructor every year prior to my child meeting their instructor, just to ensure that they are the right instructor for my kid, or at least are willing to work with me to ensure that they & myself are at an agreement as to how situations are handled etc. I'd want a school that allowed those options, and I'd pick a school that will work -with- me and has a population of kids whose parents -also- care about their childs education. This isn't to say that there aren't parents of kids in public schools that don't care about their kids education mind you.
Okay time to go read a diff' thread, I'm getting all riled up again over the thoughts of how many awful parents there are..