More Response to Parenting GQ
believe I’m up to about 40 e-mail responses to our story on parents taking the sides of their kids. I really appreciate all the input. I want to share a few more e-mails. Today is my last day of doing Good Question for January, and it’s been amazing to do stories that strike such a nerve!
Diane points out: “School’s are not always right, and it’s a parent’s job to be involved and not just agree because teacher’s are adults and the kids aren’t.”
Carol writes: “Who the hell is in charge here? The kids. You can’t discipline your kids or they will call the police and report it as child abuse. They ARE given almost everything. Every tech gadget that comes out this month, a nice car, hip clothes, gas money.”
Beth thinks that parents need to listen to their kids more, “But I also feel that there are few teachers out there that actually care for there students there is so much school funding cuts that that does affect the teachers because the teachers are cut so classes are bigger its harder to teach with more kids.”
Laurie: “Especially from what I see as a public school employee, THERE ARE WAY TOO MANY PARENTS OUT THERE WHO DO THINK EITHER A. Their child can do not wrong; and/or B. Even if they do wrong, they should not suffer any consequences.”
Lin wrote about the conundrum teachers find themselves in: “As a teacher, if I find potentially dangerous information about one of my students and I turn it into our administration I will be “hanged for an invasion of privacy.” As a teacher, if I find potentially dangerous information about one of my students and I don’t turn it into our administration and something happens I will be “hanged for not doing my duty.”
Mike said when he was a kid, schools didn’t get involved in conduct that happened off school grounds. “Parents feel the schools have crossed the line from Educator to Nanny, therefore taking control from the parents. That’s why parents get defensive, the discipline for this kind of behavior should be left to the parents not a school bureaucrat.”
Joe, a teacher, writes, “Parents these days are not interested in being a parent and saying no, it’s too easy to be a friend ( kind of spooky that a 15/16/17 year old needs a 40 - 50 year old friend).”
And John adds, “This is not an anomaly! A vast majority of the baby boomers who are now “parents” support their kids with knee jerk predictability. Their support is often vitriolic, and border line vicious.”