Should Parents Be Blamed For A Student's Failing Grades?
School districts in Florida and Alaska are looking at mom and dad when it comes to kids behaving badly in school.
Districts recently passed laws that would make it possible to fine parents if their kids miss school repeatedly. As blogger Lisa Belkin says in a clip from the Today Show (below), people are looking for answers to why kids are failing and they are looking to lay blame. So parents are the next obvious choice.
We know that parents' involvement has a direct effect on kids' success rate at school. So it makes sense. But what about the parents who are working two jobs? What about the parents who don't understand the school system? As the panel starts to get into in the clip: isn't poverty a major issue affecting how kids learn?
My friend is a principal at a downtown school. The other day on Facebook she sent a note asking if anyone had ideas on how to get more food into her school because the kids are hungry. That is a real issue that governments should be looking at, not giving me an unsatisfactory mark because I don't believe in Kindergarten homework.
I kow that parents play a role, but in the end my kids have the advantages of being well-fed, warm enough and having overly-involved parents. My guess is that a lot of the parents that will get fined or blamed for the kids bad grades are doing the best they can.
Most of those who responded to the poll on this topic at Today Moms disgreed with me: 72% say parents should be blamed for their kids failing grades.
What do you think? Should parents be fined or blamed for their kids problems in schools?
Want more chaos? Last year I wrote about 8-year-old Jack, how he had brain surgery to help his epilepsy and is now raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for Sick Kids Hospital. His lemonade stand is this weekend in Oakville, if you are nearby you should drop by. If you click and watch the video have a tissue handy.
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