Who's to blame?

Sixty-eight percent of adults believe parents deserve the most blame for students failing in school. That's according to a recent poll done by the Associated Press and Stanford University. Parents. Not teachers, not principals, not the schools themselves, but parents.

At a time where most teachers feel scrutinized and unappreciated, it is refreshing to know that an overwhelming majority realize where the blame actually lies--in the home. And education, undoubtedly, begins in the home.

I spelled "Alaska" for the first time when I was three. I was curious. I wanted to learn. My parents encouraged me. They read to me. They showed me, in actions and in words, that learning was something to be valued and to be held near and dear to the heart. As I grew older, I was expected to do well and be respectful. My word was never taken over the word of an adult. What the teacher said was as good as gold. Teachers were to be respected and listened to and supported. Whenever my parents did have a disagreement with a teacher, it was handled behind closed doors and I wasn't a witness to any sort of disharmony.

Nowadays, many parents don't seem to see any wrong in their children. The teacher is always in the wrong. Recently, a student's cell phone rang in class--something that is forbidden and we constantly fight over in school. Turns out, it was the student's mother. The teacher called him to the front of the room and explained that he couldn't answer his cell phone, but he was more than welcome to use the classroom phone to call his mother back. When the student called her and told her that he couldn't use his phone during the school day, things got so heated that she was clearly heard across the room. Nobody could tell her when she could and could not call the phone that she paid for! Who did we think we were?

Well, let me tell you. We are the people trying to teach your child good manners. We are the people who are trying to show your child how to follow rules and guidelines so they are guaranteed success as an adult. We are the people trying to teach children how to work well with others.

And apparently we are doing these things in direct opposition to the example you are setting at home.

This is not always the case. Lots of parents still support teachers and the rules set up for student safety. But those parents aren't always the ones that get the most attention. The parents that demean us and argue with us and are convinced we are out to get them and their children are the ones that get all of our attention. Those contradictory few are the ones that seem to set the tone.

I'm glad that sixty-eight percent at least realize that we do all that we can with what we are given. We need some support from home to seal the deal.