Hello everyone,
I was perusing through one of my favorite websites CNN Cafferty File and I came across this interesting blog. Jack Cafferty poses this idea; “penalizing parents if their kids misbehave at school” Schools in Britain are fining parents for various behavioral infractions. Moms and dads must take parenting classes if their children are misbehaving. If they refuse to, a fine can be issued up to $1,500. Parents of students that are suspended or expelled and are caught out in public are fined $75. For a student to return to the classroom after an expulsion the parent(s) must be interviewed by the teachers. Conversely, prizes like televisions and IPods are offered to students that follow the rules.
I am a little torn on this issue. When I took my first teaching job I knew that classroom management and discipline would be a large part of the job. I take it as a challenge to instill positive values and morals in my students. Whether or not I am getting through with my message remains to be seen.
However, what I didn’t know was to what extent that I at times would feel like a babysitter. Often times I feel like very little of my time is spent teaching and coaching. In addition, nothing is more infuriating than a climate of disrespect and apathy that is often pervasive in the classroom.
I once read an article in US News and World Report entitled how they do it better. It is a broad list of things that other countries do better than the U.S. The Dutch are pioneers at flood prevention. The Norwegians pay to parent. The Japanese crime rate is non-existent. I do believe there are lots of things to borrow from our neighbors. The fines and classes seem a bit draconian to me. We should find a version of this system that gets parents involved. Up here in northern Minnesota the parent involvement in the high school is minimal. Parent teacher conferences are sparsely attended. Few parents check their children’s grades online. A small number show up for sports meetings and other awards banquets. As an educator I want to be a world-beater, but sometimes feel powerless in the face of insurmountable odds. Is there a form of this Brit procedure that we could adopt? Thanks, Arek.
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Arek,
ReplyDeleteEffective July 1 in ND if a child is chronically absent from school the police can issue an infraction ticket to the legal parent with a significant fine. We are hoping this will be an intermediate step to some parents before the very serious felony charge of educational neglect. We took a lot of hits from citizens about this law, but when schools are suffering sanctions because of low AYP scores we have to do something to get kids in their seats so we can teach them! Rather that punishment do you think offering some kind of incentives to parents or students would get you parent involvemnt increased? Maybe offering bonus points to students whose parents attend?
One school I heard about actually gave away an iTouch door prize. I know it sounds silly to those of us who want to be involved, but at this point some districts have to do whatever it takes!
I think the main problem is that no one is taking responsibility for education. The parents say that it is up to the student to be at school and the students blame their parents for not being more helpful at home or that their parents do not care. As educators we are trying to instill life lessons that are not always modeled at home to help reinforce the concept. Educators are walking a fine line trying to determine who is "at fault."
ReplyDeleteWe have a terrible time having parents attend events/conferences at my school. We started providing supper for families to attend events. This has helped the attendance for our special events. It is sad that schools need to provide incentives for parents to come to the school.
Chad
Yes, there is a procedure and it looks like adopting what the Brits did is part of it. I do not have all of the answers, but what I do know is that the public school system is a joke. We as educators are babysitters. When something goes wrong, it rains on us. When something goes right, it is the legislature that gets all of the applause. I know we are not looking for a pat on the back, but just to be looked at as professionals. Kids need to see an end result, now; so giving them prizes for coming to school gets my vote. We don’t live in a time where people look for a sense of accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in school, I looked forward to practice. Why? Because I knew I was on varsity, and varsity got things that the “regulars“ didn’t. I wanted to be varsity everything; track, football, soccer, basketball; I wanted more letter pins and warm up suits than I could get my hands on. It was like an addiction. Back to the point, I saw the correlation between getting to school, getting my schoolwork done, and staying on varsity. If I did not have that, I would be with the rest of my friends from home (I grew up in a really tough neighborhood, so you can figure out where the rest of my friends are).
We cannot be parents to everyone, and we cannot make kids see the light if they refuse. So I am all for consequences, whether positive or negative.
I agree with your observations. Working in a rural school many miles from a post-secondary institution and any significant professional business sector, one sometimes feels like education is simply not a priority. Reading this blog, and just completing another where I read Fargo and West Fargo schools are teaching etiquette, it seems we as educators are now becoming the teachers, preachers, parents and police to this generation. How far will the students of this generation take these things before our parents wake up and decide that they have to be role models and living examples of how to act and behave versus offering friendship their kids. While the British method of encouraging good student behavior seems unlikely in our country, it is an indicator that many countries are facing difficult challenges as less and less children grow up learning morales, values and discipline in the home.
ReplyDeleteI too am of the mind that parents need to be held more accountable for their children's actions at school. Too many parents aren't being parents, and since it isn't legal to make people take an IQ test before having offspring...
ReplyDelete;-)
Something needs to be done. I L-O-V-E that there will be the option for schools to fine parents if their child is chronically absent from school. That is a huge issue in our school district. Then, when the child is in school, the teacher has to work to get that student caught up, which takes class time away from the other students. In addition to that, the school suffers when AYP results are published because that student is way behind in what they should know. The government needs to back public schools up when it comes to issues that should have been solved by the parents. We aren't there to babysit. We are there to teach...not to deal with behavior problems and disrespect.
I think this is great. I know it might be a little over the top, but this will help parents realize that not all of their kids are perfect angels. I don't want to be the negative Nancy, but I think parents are way easier on their children today. Kids get away with so much more in school then what they did 10 years ago. It is almost like we as educators have less rights then the students we are teaching. I think it would be a great way for parents to have to be involved with their student’s life and implement useful everyday tools in their child’s life such as: respect, courtesy, and being punctual. One would say that might be too much, but they are going to have to learn it someday if they want to make it in today’s world.
ReplyDeleteOkay -- I'm going to be contrary and disagree with you all on this issue. How can you hold a parent responsible for the actions of their children? It may be "slightly" possible in the lower elementary grades, but in middle and high school, no way! Let me use the example of my son, who was between 16 and 17 when this happened. He was skipping school a lot, frequently got into trouble in school, and the asst. principal had me on speed dial. My husband or I would physically take him into the school to make sure he attended. As soon as no one was looking, he ducked out another door and was gone. Should we, as parents, have quit out jobs and sat with him all day to make sure he stayed there so we wouldn't be fined? He is a young adult and, as such, should have to take responsibility for his actions. Legally, we were responsible monetarily for any damages of person or property that he committed. This is a hugely scarry thought! It could have sent us to the poor house if he had been in an accident and another party was injured. What did we do? Pray for the day he turned 18. Luckily for us, the state took custody of him before that and legally, we are no longer responsible for his actions or debts. This action of holding parents responsible will not teach responsibility to the child. That should be our goal.
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