Now here's a topic that just flat out confuses me. Typically, the way this works is a student gets a failing grade and the parent goes after the teacher. Or a student is given some kind of consequence for inappropriate behavior and the parent goes after the principal. And when I say "goes after," I mean full force yelling, finger wagging, swearing, threatening, you name it. I once had a parent tell me that I was her slave and she was my master and she was going to "get" me. What makes people think that it's OK to behave that way? If their child got sick, would they blame the doctor? I can just see it. "Listen, doc, I don't like the way you diagnosed my kid. I can't believe you used that cold metal stethoscope on him. If it weren't for your idiotic methods, my child would be completely healthy." First of all, people don't treat doctors like that and, secondly, if a parent actually felt that way, he'd just take his kid to a different doctor. Furthermore, if a child gets a failing grade in school, shouldn't the parents try to find out what the child did (or, more likely, didn't do) to get that failing grade? Shouldn't the parents be asking the teacher what can be done on the home front to help the kid pass? And as for school discipline, I've heard every excuse ever invented. And I'm not talking about the excuses the kids give (I expect that from kids), I'm talking about the excuses their parents give! I wouldn't go into your home and discipline your child, but when they are in school, I legally act in loco parentis (in absence of parents). You might be mad at your kid for cheating on that test, but why would you be mad at me for enforcing the ensuing consequence? The disciplining we do in school is part of the educational process. We teach them how to read, write, and compute, and these days we have to teach them how to behave like rational human beings as well. When a nasty parent comes in and yells at me I want to say to the student, "See? That's what I'm talking about. Don't be a jerk like your dad."
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Irate Parents
Now here's a topic that just flat out confuses me. Typically, the way this works is a student gets a failing grade and the parent goes after the teacher. Or a student is given some kind of consequence for inappropriate behavior and the parent goes after the principal. And when I say "goes after," I mean full force yelling, finger wagging, swearing, threatening, you name it. I once had a parent tell me that I was her slave and she was my master and she was going to "get" me. What makes people think that it's OK to behave that way? If their child got sick, would they blame the doctor? I can just see it. "Listen, doc, I don't like the way you diagnosed my kid. I can't believe you used that cold metal stethoscope on him. If it weren't for your idiotic methods, my child would be completely healthy." First of all, people don't treat doctors like that and, secondly, if a parent actually felt that way, he'd just take his kid to a different doctor. Furthermore, if a child gets a failing grade in school, shouldn't the parents try to find out what the child did (or, more likely, didn't do) to get that failing grade? Shouldn't the parents be asking the teacher what can be done on the home front to help the kid pass? And as for school discipline, I've heard every excuse ever invented. And I'm not talking about the excuses the kids give (I expect that from kids), I'm talking about the excuses their parents give! I wouldn't go into your home and discipline your child, but when they are in school, I legally act in loco parentis (in absence of parents). You might be mad at your kid for cheating on that test, but why would you be mad at me for enforcing the ensuing consequence? The disciplining we do in school is part of the educational process. We teach them how to read, write, and compute, and these days we have to teach them how to behave like rational human beings as well. When a nasty parent comes in and yells at me I want to say to the student, "See? That's what I'm talking about. Don't be a jerk like your dad."
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