Parent Accountability

The final missing piece of accountability clearly rests upon the parent. Without parents help, both students and teachers will be faced with an almost insurmountable task-educating our children and preparing them for the 21st century. There is no doubt that teachers, without reservation, depend upon each and every parent to assist them in both maintaining discipline and ensuring that our children are prepared for school daily. It is only through this joint effort between parents and teachers that we as a nation can ensure our generation of children will be prepared for this century.

Unfortunately, in many homes, many parents are not holding up their end of the agreement. Parents must insist and demand that their love ones do their homework, come to school prepared, get a good night's sleep and be functionally ready for school the next day. All too often, as a teacher, I see many children coming to school without adequate school supplies, sleepy, and homework not even attempted. Parents, we as teachers, need your help because we cannot do it all alone. We are all in this together and we sincerely need your help. The accountability piece is where parents must take charge and be held accountable for their children learning just as well as the teacher. However, this is not the case.

Many parents feel that all of the instruction and guidance must come from the school and this type of reasoning is farthest from the truth. The average child is in school for approximately six and a half hours daily and as I mentioned in one of my previous articles, the remainder of the day which is about seventeen and a half hours more, teachers have no control of the children at that point. This is why parental support is so dearly needed. With parents shouldering a portion of the responsibility alongside students and teachers, there is no doubt in my mind that our kids will be performing at their optimum performance and the arduous task of instructing our children will be just a little more easier and bearable. Don't you agree? If our students are to transition into responsible young adults, then there is no question that parents and teachers must do all that is necessary for our children to succeed. Parents represent the other piece of the puzzle that is needed to ensure completion. Once teachers, parents and students work together in unison like the cogs of a wheel finely tuned, true success will be realized for our children. Then one may say that accountability is everyone's job and with this combined effort, the issue of who is accountable will no longer exist. We are all accountable--teachers, parents, and students!!