I believe two of the most formative foundations of children in America today are their parents and their teachers.
I am a firm believer teachers are not receiving the support they need in the completion of their job.
They should not have to be both an educator and a parent to our nation’s children.
This is an encouragement to our teachers out there, and a sworn duty as a parent to support you in the care of so many of our nation's children.
In the past two decades our teachers have borne the stress of the mass growth of our nation. Their classrooms are overfilled, they are dealing with regulations changes, a vast diversity of children with different capabilities yet in the same grade. More specialization, vast advances in technological usage. Strain from politics and societal issues.
They were stressed to a breaking point during COVID. Many teachers left the profession due to the challenges of the classroom, the curriculum, and the regulations from every angle of government and medical agencies. Also teachers left due to the challenges with the children they were in charge of.
I have multiple teachers in my family. Many of their largest challenges are the increased presence of phones in classrooms, lazy phone policies by the schools, and lowered discipline options for the teacher when children break the rules of the classroom or schools.
Even with that said, they felt they could work with the kids no matter the challenges in the classroom. They had an increasing problem with their students' parents.
I feel the educators' profession has been reduced in the respect it should be given. I feel our nation does not hold teachers and educators in the higher pantheon of employment infrastructure as it should be. They should be held in the same breath as first responders, policemen, firefighters, medical field workers, military, and judicial workers. Our society would not function without these individuals AND our teachers.
Our teachers should be paid more. They should receive more scholarships, incentivization to progress and serve in the field of teaching. They should receive state and federal support to complete this field of study. Every political administration should hold education as an immutable platform for support and improvement.
They should be respected and supported in the completion of their jobs as they sacrifice 11.5 months out of the year for your children. (Yes they are in school 9 months give or take. Yes they “have summers off” but don’t forget they have to revise their lessons, and classes. They have to attend education courses to advance their skill sets. They have to prep their curriculums and rooms for their usage. Due to low wages many act as coaches or support staff in the school district concurrent to their educator status. So roughly that gives them 2 weeks off sometime in the summer to kick back and relax.
To any teachers this reaches today, I give you an emphatic THANK YOU. You are appreciated.
This brings me to a prior comment. My family members who are teachers stated they had progressively more problems with the students' parents than they did with the children.
This was a wide scope of behaviors and issues.
The parents were nowhere to be seen, the child misbehaved and the educator received no support from the parents/guardians of the child even with direct contact and display of the problems. The parents were TOO present. They were negating the status of the teacher, the parent was attempting to tell the teacher how to do their job. Parents that believe their child’s needs come before ALL other children, and disbelieving when their child committed a disciplinary required action.
Other parents whose ultimate failure was their children had an empty belly, and lacked basic school supplies, or multiple sets of clothes.
Parents that depend on state funded lunches for their child to eat, state funded transportation for their child to attend school. Public school to “babysit” their children.
When we fail or misstep as parents we set our kids up for failure and stress every successive step they take in the world ahead of them.
This prior challenging paragraph is not to target any readers. I am not aiming to spite or start a very “constructive and worthwhile” Facebook argument. It is to report on what I have heard and read from our educators in our nation. I will never present a problem without a paired solution.
WE as parents can be the guideline from our children to our teachers. We can be supportive to our kids and to our educators. It can be as simple as that but let me go further for more concrete bullets. We must do our job to allow teachers to do their job. It takes a village is the ole adage, the adage does not state give your kid to public school and let them raise your child.
Here is a short brainstormed collective of ideas to support your local teachers and schools.
Introduce yourself to your children’s teacher. Shake their hand and thank them for what they do. Stay connected on platforms that allow you to see what your children are experiencing in the classroom. Many teachers are very accessible in multiple forms. Little gifts for the teachers throughout the year are a simple but important sign of appreciation.
Small side thought; How many of us would be willing to step into a room ¾ of the year in a room packed full of other people’s trike motors/ankle biters? Just let that sink in a bit.
Thank your kid’s teacher tomorrow!
Join your schools PTO, the schools grants, funding, staffing, plans are very transparent. They want volunteers and want parents to be more involved in the activities and inner workings of the educational process.
Ask your teacher how you can help with your own child and or their classroom. Many holidays, celebrations, start or end of school activities want parents to help.
Teach your child respect for their teacher, for educators and the job they are completing. Teach them proper phone-technology etiquette. Teach your child proper communication regarding adults and other children.
My children have been taught their teacher is an extension of my wife and I. Their consistent effort and passion for my children deserve returned respect.
Attend your parent-teacher conference with a readiness to assess your child’s process and be ready to respond to support them and their teacher in continued success.
Support your schools fundraisers, be aware of state/federal grants-petitions that directly affect and can improve the environment your child learns in.
Read up on your local school district proceedings. Many meetings are public and are recorded for viewing. Do not let Facebook, CNN, Fox News tell you what is “happening” in your school. Find out for yourself.
In disciplinary situations assess what we can do as parents for our family and children first. Then if appropriate advance what the school and educators can do.
Be active in your children's homework, in their school activity requirements. Support them to complete their tasks and be prepared day to day. Spend the precious time to repeat sight words, read their extra books, complete their math sheets, and toil for their science projects as they come. It is challenging but can be very important bonding times for families. It prepares our kids and helps the machine of their class to keep on chugging.
I have high faith in any parent reading this that they are already working hard to support the mission of parenthood and support of their child in school.
BUT as I always challenge myself prior to anyone else. I know I can do something else, I know I can reach out and show support for my children’s teacher more. I know I can do more. I am going to try.
Let us all be better parents in any and all ways that we can. It will benefit our children, it will benefit our teachers, our schools. In time, it will benefit our nation.
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