Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Why don't parents want involved in their child's education anymore?!

What has happened with parents being involved in their children's education. In the old days the parents were fully responsible for their up bringing and making sure they got an education. Now parents send their kids to school and want the schools to do it all.
They all want to have a say and tell you when teachers are not doing something they approve of but when they have the chance to participate in programs that will give them a voice in their child's education and to help improve the quality and things that they offer they don't want to participate.
Many schools have gone from having PTA (Parent Teacher Associations) to PSO (Parent Support Organizations) to none at all. Without parents involvement there are many things that can become negleted. What happened that made parents not want to get involved. I understand some parents work and it gets hard but for those who can spare one night a month to come and discuss issues that can better the school for THEIR children, I think they should WANT to participate. Without the PSO there would be many things that may not be addressed. The PSO has gone as far as to put Pea gravel in the play area at the school, provide shaded areas for hot days, provide a way for teachers to display work done by their students (tack strips in hall that are coming for all grade levels). We should be here to support our children and their teachers. Without support, things will not work as well. Being that this is a Support Organization we also need to have some of the teachers or representatives from the grades to attend so that we know we are addressing issues they have.
When your child goes to a school and there are over 300 students you know that there are more parents than 6. We currently meet monthly and make decisions for our school. We have a meeting of officers as they are the only ones in attendence along with the Principle. The parents put their trust in 6 people but what if our thoughts are different than yours. What if you think there is something that should be done that is not being addressed. Another thing that we do as a PSO is bring things to the attention of the school board that needs to be handled. Making areas safer for our kids.
I do not want to see the PSO at our school do as some of those in the area and become non-existant. It is our responsibility as a parent to make sure our children are getting the best education possible but if you are not involved in any aspect how will you know. Those who work during the day can't go help with class parties or field trips, those who work at night can't go to the one monthly meeting for PSO but you can help in your own ways. Take the time you do have day or night to go and help at the school Help your child's class, Help with field trips, volunteer your time when we have events at the school that require volunteers to help you, If you can PLEASE come to PSO and show support there and help us make the decisions neccessary to make our school better! Make your voices heard so that you can create a better education for your children and not complain that another school is better as they may have better parent involvement. The school does not always determine how well the kids are taught but how much the parents care.

My son goes to NWH (Northwest Heights) and I am as involved as I can be. I have 3 kids and a full time job. My husband works 2 jobs but my kids are important enough that I want to make sure they are getting the best they can. Don't you want that for your kids to? Then why not get involved with your schools PSO, PTA or what ever they have, if they don't have one, get one started! They need it!

1 comment:

Karies place said...

I homeschool my kids so obviously I'm involved. But I do hear about these things and it frustrates me when parents just want free babysitting and to be lazy about it.