Parents, Kids Spawn Woes in Education
There has been a recent flurry of news stories on “dropout factories” — high schools where no more than 60 percent students who start as freshmen stay in school through their senior year.
One in 10 American high schools could qualify for that label.
Questions abound. What’s happening in our classrooms? Why aren’t our children motivated? How is it that they are underperforming, and lack the incentive to stay in school?
Some say the government is failing kids, that there should be more programs to help boost learning skills. Others say society is asking too much from underfunded, overcrowded schools and from teachers who are underpaid and overworked.
While this may be true in some instances, for the real answers we must look closer to home.
Much closer.
It’s uncomfortable, but true: Parents must take responsibility for their children’s performance, and kids have to step up and take responsibility too.
Parents are a child’s first teacher.
These mighty role models set the tone for learning in families. Study after study shows that children who grow up in families where education is valued and standards are set do better in school.
Kids who struggle in school need parents who will be there to help seek out solutions: tutoring, homework help, specialized services that can help their child do the best work he or she can. No one knows a child better than his parent; no teacher can have the same influence a parent can…
Source: Journal and Courier, IN
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