The A+ Activist

Communication Breakdown

As I was driving past the middle and the high schools yesterday, something occurred to me; the communication between teachers and parents has a tendency to fall apart or become nonexistent by the time children reach the middle school level. Once high school rolls around, many parents don’t even hear from the school or have contact with the administrators or the teachers unless their teen gets in to some sort of trouble.

Why is that? Why do we allow the schools to dictate when they want to hear from us? Last year was my son’s first year of middle school. On every occasion in which something was going on with him, I had to initiate the conversation. In a couple of instances it was only after multiple emails were sent where I said, “Hey I called and left a message for you, I haven’t heard back…” did I get a reply. We as parents tend to think that communication at the elementary school level is important – and so do the teachers: School wide newsletters as well as classroom newsletters get sent home, we have parent teacher conferences at every grading period, and if you’re lucky enough, you get a teacher who will call you just to see if everything is OK because little Suzy or Billy isn’t quite themselves this week.

However, when we get to middle school and high school, those letters, the phone calls and the conferences come to a screeching halt. It’s now up the parents to make the first move if we want to hear about how our kids are doing. Between middle and high school more kids fall victim to drugs, alcohol and suicide than any other time. It’s when the pressure to perform, to fit in and find their own sense of self takes control.

Once the schools reopen their offices and the teachers start reporting to school to set up their classrooms, make an appointment to at least meat the teachers face to face. You want to know who they are, and you need to make your presence as your son or daughter’s advocate known. Introduce yourself and let them know that just as you expect them to have an open door policy for your child to come to them with problems, be it social or academic, you also have an open door policy for them to approach you as well. Let them know that as a parent, you have a duty to your teen to help them do their best so you may request a sit down with them if you see your teen suddenly starts having problems.

It’s their job to teach your child what they need to succeed in this world and unfortunately, it’s become our job as parents to keep those lines of communication between home and school going.

5 comments June 25th, 2008 Edit

The Easiest Step to Becoming a Parent Activist

You’ve made it this far.

You’re upset with the way certain policies are handed down in your child’s school and you are frustrated but beyond that you don’t know where to begin. I’m about to share the biggest and easiest way to become an activist for parents your child’s school. What can you do to make next year different? Better?

At the beginning of every school year, your son or daughter brings home a stack of paperwork 6 inches thick. You read through and sign what you must and toss the rest right?

Don’t. Look through the paperwork to see if there are newsletters from the principal, district or even your child’s teacher. They will be looking for help. Volunteers to come into the classrooms, into the school and do anything from working with a reading group or in the library to making copies and sorting and stapling.

I know it sounds like boring, mundane tasks but getting your foot inside the school door is exactly what you need to do.

If you don’t see papers like this or you get the chance to meet with your son or daughter’s teacher for the next year, introduce yourself, offer your cell phone or home phone number now and ask what help they typically need most. Teachers know what they will need and they are more than willing to get the parents into the classroom to help - even if it’s just to help staple and sort.

It’s a start.

2 comments June 10th, 2008 Edit