I was invited to attend a parent meeting of the senior class at an unnamed high school the other night and although I was off that day, I decided I would attend anyway. When I arrived at the school, I saw that there were three cars in the lot and thought to myself not bad, I was 15 minutes early and figured a few parents came straight at the work. When I entered the building I found that those cars belonged to the principal, a disciplinarian and the senior class advisor.
Still, I was early, so it wasn't a big deal. Well, not until I found out that the school's custodial staff didn't even know about the meeting. This seemed to foreshadow how the rest of the night will go. 6:00pm, no parents. 6:05, no parents. 6:15, no parents. 6:20, one parent, 6:25, one more. I stayed for nearly an hour and only two parents actually showed up.
It's that type of
lack of involvement that makes our school systems what they are. True, from downtown to the classroom has to improve their practices, but parents have to be actively involved as well. How do you just blow off a meeting that's outlining (hopefully) the last six months of your child's high school career? Based on the social aspect alone, information on the yearbook, prom, graduation, etc... is important. Let alone the all of the pertinent academic information, college visits, FAFSA workshops, HSPA tests, your child has missed 32 days of school already and those little details.
I remember sitting in class at times with this eerie feeling that I was being watched. I would look at the door and my mom was standing there. I wasn’t in trouble, it wasn’t parent/teacher conferences, it was Tuesday and she just wanted to check up on me. It was that type of involvement that let me know that she took my education seriously, so I better not take it for granted.
It was deflating to see that
lack of turnout the other night, especially when June twenty something rolls around and little Raekwon or Shaneka isn’t graduating and the finger pointing begins. Just think, you could show up to a few more parent meetings now or stand behind your son in court later asking where did it go wrong? I guess I could’ve done a “Happy Hour” sweep and rounded up a few parents…
Leave a respond
Post a Comment