Quite honestly, Eris, the kids are the easy part. I love being around sixth graders. Bring it. The number one most destructive, corrosive, invasive force I’ve met are some of the parents. Notice I say “some.” A large majority of parents never read with their kids, never help them with homework, enable them to be late constantly, are excuse-makers, and they tend to act lawyerly as a defensive adjutator rather than a parent. I frequently have parents who don’t know how to pronounce my name, don’t know where my classroom is (!!), and one parent this year didn’t even know what grade her kid was in! She argued with me on and on that her daughter was a fifth-grader and that I was a fifth-grade teacher! When I taught early man in history and science, I had a nutty evangelical mom tell me I “don’t have the holy spirit” and that I preach a pack of lies, even though I presented early men as theories and by no means a sure fact. That same evangelical mom chokes her kid to death socially. She doesn’t let her watch any TV except videos she approves, never lets her go anywhere, forces her to watch Lawrence Welk (which I think is child abuse in itself! lol), and she wouldn’t let her go with us to science camp. I have several parents covered in tattoos who cuss, etc. Frequently each year there are some who refuse to come to conferences to get their kids’ progress, and one mom of a kid in my class actually WORKS AT OUR SCHOOL!! and yet won’t show up for conference! She is in denial about her son who has aspberger syndrome. The shacking up, multiple divorces and remarriages, the drug use, the incarcerations, the dysfunction at home, all create a poisonous atmosphere for these poor kids.
It’s rare to find a well-adjusted, married parents, white picket fence kid these days. They all have so much baggage, God bless 'em. I just plug along and try my best. But when Obama and Bush and the rest try to blame teachers for the collapse of public education, it’s hard not to laugh. The parents are the epicenter…and administrators sure don’t help!