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Is The Teaching Profession so Black & White?
Parents To Blame? [2-2]
The union, which has members in both state and independent schools, says parents are letting children rule the roost at home and then expect schools to discipline them. At the same time parents are undermining the authority of teachers.
"We know that far too many children are behaving badly at school, even to the point of being violent to staff. This is horrifying enough, but it is hard to be surprised since many are just mirroring their parents," Bousted writes today. "My members tell me that parents often come into school and threaten staff."
Recent incidents included a father who had encouraged his child to start a playground fight and a parent who had provided a raw egg for a pupil to crack over a teacher's head.
Children may be starting to read and count when they arrive at school, but too many lack the social and verbal skills to be able to take part in lessons and behave well, Bousted adds. "We are in danger of becoming a nation of isolates, of families living separate lives under one roof. The bedroom, once a place to sleep, has become the living space for the young, spending hours in front of computer screens, on social networking sites or immersed in computer games. Children and young people often spend little time with their parents and siblings."
Young people will not learn how to behave as social beings if they are stuck in front of television programmes such as Skins, Hollyoaks and Big Brother, she says. "Teachers report that many pupils are exhausted at the start of the school day, tired out from viewing unsuitable programmes or sitting in front of the computer screen until late into the night or the early hours of the morning," writes Bousted.
She received support yesterday from other union leaders. Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, said some parents thought their responsibility for children's behaviour ended at the school gate and were undermining teachers trying to enforce discipline. "Where pupils have been persistently disruptive you get a percentage of parents who will take the side of the child, regardless of the evidence, and that causes difficulties and can lead to a refusal to teach."
Justine Roberts, a co-founder of mumsnet.com, called for co-operation rather than warfare between parents and teachers. Parents were under tremendous pressure to do many things, she said, including earning enough money to support their families and to follow all the directives coming down from the government.
"We've got to read an hour a day to our children, make sure they have five fruit and vegetables and make sure they watch no more than 20 minutes of TV. Parents are being bombarded with statistics and criticism from all directions and we need to understand that children are the responsibility of all of us. Instead of promoting this culture of blaming each other, we should be supporting each other," Roberts said.
She argued that it is hard to meet a parent who did not want their child to succeed at school. "Talking together is the most sensible way of going forward, working out why we work so hard and how we can make more opportunities for flexible working to free up time for the family."
"We know that far too many children are behaving badly at school, even to the point of being violent to staff. This is horrifying enough, but it is hard to be surprised since many are just mirroring their parents," Bousted writes today. "My members tell me that parents often come into school and threaten staff."
Recent incidents included a father who had encouraged his child to start a playground fight and a parent who had provided a raw egg for a pupil to crack over a teacher's head.
Children may be starting to read and count when they arrive at school, but too many lack the social and verbal skills to be able to take part in lessons and behave well, Bousted adds. "We are in danger of becoming a nation of isolates, of families living separate lives under one roof. The bedroom, once a place to sleep, has become the living space for the young, spending hours in front of computer screens, on social networking sites or immersed in computer games. Children and young people often spend little time with their parents and siblings."
Young people will not learn how to behave as social beings if they are stuck in front of television programmes such as Skins, Hollyoaks and Big Brother, she says. "Teachers report that many pupils are exhausted at the start of the school day, tired out from viewing unsuitable programmes or sitting in front of the computer screen until late into the night or the early hours of the morning," writes Bousted.
She received support yesterday from other union leaders. Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, said some parents thought their responsibility for children's behaviour ended at the school gate and were undermining teachers trying to enforce discipline. "Where pupils have been persistently disruptive you get a percentage of parents who will take the side of the child, regardless of the evidence, and that causes difficulties and can lead to a refusal to teach."
Justine Roberts, a co-founder of mumsnet.com, called for co-operation rather than warfare between parents and teachers. Parents were under tremendous pressure to do many things, she said, including earning enough money to support their families and to follow all the directives coming down from the government.
"We've got to read an hour a day to our children, make sure they have five fruit and vegetables and make sure they watch no more than 20 minutes of TV. Parents are being bombarded with statistics and criticism from all directions and we need to understand that children are the responsibility of all of us. Instead of promoting this culture of blaming each other, we should be supporting each other," Roberts said.
She argued that it is hard to meet a parent who did not want their child to succeed at school. "Talking together is the most sensible way of going forward, working out why we work so hard and how we can make more opportunities for flexible working to free up time for the family."
Classroom Behaviour
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Parents to Blame?:...
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