macsenior08's Blog

Wouldn't have bothered me, the more i know the better, my mother was the same way.

I think emailing parents a dozen times a day about every single thing their children do in school is excessive. I don't even ask my 17 year old everything she does with her friends. She knows that if she does something bad, it'll be her fault & her freedoms will be taken away. I don't fly up to the school or call the teachers over every little thing. I've left the majority of school issues up to my kids. As long as they behave, mind the teachers, & do their best, I'm alright with it. I've never sat with them or double checked their homework. I'm available for help, if needed. If there is a major issue, then I'll hear about it. Frankly, I don't want to know every single thing because I think it's worked better to give them ownership of their behavior & how they handle things. I did plenty of teaching good behavior habits when they were small & every day, when they go to school, I always say, "Behave, mind your teachers, act nicely, do your best". I always say it in a light-hearted tone. So far, it's all worked. All 3 of my girls are on the honor roll & all 3 are delights to their teachers & other school officials. Doesn't mean they're perfect, but when there has been an issue at school, they know that Mom will assist if necessary. Mac, you sound like a wonderful young lady; the kind any parent prays to get.

Mac, seriously, what do you want the school to do. If teachers don't contact parents, we get in trouble. Yet half the time we can't even get hold of parents to let them know anything good, bad or indifferent. While your parents are involved, that's not the norm. And honestly, I could sit on the phone all day and into the night and not get hold of the parents that I need to reach. This may seem annoying, but for some students, it's our only hope.

I think mac agrees with this method in regards to the students who really need it. Those who are doing poorly, skip, don't have their homework done, or misbehave should have their parents contacted by the teachers. It's sad how some parents think a good education happens by magic. And, it's also sad when some parents show little to no respect for educators. When parents do that, it's an uphill battle for the teachers. On the converse, there are some parents who have crossed the line from "involved" to "interference". There is a fine line between the 2. Involved is having a good idea of what & how your children are doing in school. Involved is becoming a team with the teacher in order to make sure your child gets the best possible education. Interference is having to micromanage both the teachers & your child. It's picking through your child's backpack with no good reason. It's calling the teacher regarding a "B" on an assignment or a test. Interference is sitting with your child every night until every single comma of homework is done correctly. I've never corrected my children's homework. 100's on homework can give misinformation to a teacher by making them think the child understands the work, when in reality the child might need extra help. I'm involved with my girls, but I do my best not to interfere.

Texastrublue and others, I am perfectly fine with the messages that contain things like a failing grade, an important test or skipping. But like I said, to those who don't skip or who are not failing or acting up in class, what is the point?

I agree completly with June, you have a really great opinion of your daughters which really makes me happy because a lot of parents today don't appreciate their children and that is why they 'interfer' like they do. Like June said, if parents needed to know everything they would be told everything (which is what is apparently happening now), but they don't need to know everything. You would think that a highschooler would be allowed certain freedoms, like the freedom to talk to their parents about projects and such, not to have a computer tell them. It's getting ridiculous to the point where now I won't have to tell my mom anything, the phone will do it for me. It's cutting of conversations with teens and their parents and putting a restricting feeling on the teens who aren't allowed the privledge to have their own say.

And to Scotty, I agree with you about the anger thing. Some teachers even do it as a joke, like I got one from a teacher about disobeying the dress code(knowing it was a joke), but my mom had no idea. Whats to happen when messages like this are sent out? This system is not perfect and unrealistic.

I think your biggest problem Mac- is that you have a bad case of Senioritus. Your so close to 'freedom' you can almost taste it,and your itching to bust loose. And pretty much anything your school does between now and May , is going to irratate the crap out of you!!
Good luck though- your almost done!
Oh- and ps- I dont have any problems getting emails about my child- it tells me the teacher is actually paying attention and my kid knows better than to act a fool!

This is exactly why I am against this program, and it came from MsSr's mouth: "Programs like this just make us want to not try to communicate."

When will parents really get it?

I think the concept is a good idea. It would be more effective if these "messages" were collected and sent in ONE email to a parent...not over the phone or text. I am sure my parents would have appreciated that when I was in school. However, if my Irish mother would have gotten these numerous phone calls during the day while I was at school, she probably would have gone down there and beat the hell out of someone. LOL.

tell your mom to call and complain, let the school know she doesn't want them calling her about you because it irritates her. problem solved.

june my oldest son was also an honor studen but it would not have bothered be in the least to get calls or emails..my little ones are in AIM which is also advanced classes and none of them ever get in trouble. but no problem coming from me if the teacher or tellaparent computer calls me on them either.

all kids aren't at school every day and they do get in trouble...you can bet that if only the "bad" kids parents got the call a lawsuit for discrimination is what we would be blogging about

Mac, you really should be appreciative that you're in a school that CARES rather than, like most schools, where they just want you to get to the next grade, perform well on their tests, and then get the heck out.