We’ve been very fortunate that all three kids have benefited from great teachers in our current school but I know that won’t always be the case. I have explained to my kids that they won’t love and respect everyone they meet and work with but sometimes you have to work around things. This is a lesson I’ve had to learn as a parent dealing with the school.
I’ve had my fair share of head butting with our current school principal. I’m not a fan of school uniforms and I have stated that much but that’s a school board issue versus an individual school issue. However, I do feel school employees should follow the same uniform dress code. We all know that authority figures set the tone in an institution. If you work in an office and your boss dresses in a business suit everyday, you’re more than likely to dress accordingly. I’m not saying that teachers need guidance around what’s appropriate to wear but I think they should set an example, encouraging kids to follow uniform dress code by wearing it themselves.
Like most parents we’ve had to deal with bully issues at school too. I’m tired of hearing that young kids aren’t capable of bullying, that they are just learning to adjust socially, that boys will be boys. Kids just don’t turn into bullies when they enter high school. Disrespectful behaviour has to be dealt with. Don’t tell me I’m being an over-reactive parent. Don’t tell me my son’s long hair is bound to lead to teasing. Don’t tell me that kids need to learn to stand-up for themselves and can’t keep running to adults to solve their problems.
Kids are learning and they need our guidance. I agree, kids need to take action themselves but this black and white rule making doesn’t take into account that each child and how they handle a situation is different. This reads as a lazy way to avoid getting involved and I don’t need to hear that I just don’t understand.
Even language has been an issue at school when my oldest daughter and I agreed to avoid the French stream within the public school system. I don’t have an issue with learning new languages but I do have problem with the current French education system in the English schools. Of course our principal disagrees with my take and that’s her prerogative but don’t try to convince me with ridiculous made-up stats. Without following the French language stream my daughter will be able to get into university, she will be able to find employment, and she will be happy as an adult.
Yes we’ve dealt with all of these issues and the ridiculous rationale from the principal as to why these weren’t issues. With school so close to an end you would think we were done with all the silliness but a new snake slithers out.
My oldest daughter has been dealing with a boy who is fixated on her and since she has no real interest in him he’s turned troublesome. He’s making her days at school uncomfortable. We’ve been dealing with the school on this and we thought we had come to a resolution or rather my daughter and I thought we had come to terms with the issue. It seems the school has not. Today a new guidance counsellor is brought into the picture, calling me to request permission to bring the kids together and talk about what the issue is and how they can get along. Really? Isn’t that what they’ve been trying to do for the last 4 weeks? Oh, the previous guidance counselor or principal didn’t brief you? You thought that I would feel compelled to resolve this issue, play the role of the ‘good’ parent? Sorry but rehashing something so that you can be brought up to speed, something that I believe will never get resolved, is not how I want my daughter spending her last few days of school. I think the counsellor was surprised. I think school authority figures are taken aback when parents question their motives.
I don’t profess my kids are perfect. In fact on most of these school issues we’ve also been working on them at home. The school might control their environment but my kids control their behaviour. We need to keep our child’s welfare in mind and if we as parents think something isn’t working, question it. Too often I’ve seen parents guilted or mislead by school authority figures to follow the grain. We teach our kids to question authority and think for themselves. As parents we need to live by example. Perhaps if more parents speak-up about ridiculous claims coming from the mouths of those running schools, we might hear less of these claims.
There is no school utopia out there. You will encounter things you don’t like at any school you attend; running to a new school won’t change that. That doesn’t mean you should just put up with things you disagree with and your kids should know that too. I want all my children to have a positive school experience and I’m not going to let it be skewed by someone who feels they know more about children because they are responsible for 250 students. I know my own children. I am open to working together but it’s the together part that is being forgotten. I’m not stupid. Don’t treat me that way.
Have you ever felt like some authority figures think you’re stupid? Have you had to force issues at school?