Parents: Not As Bad As Advertised

As a young teacher, parents of students terrified me. I had seen first hand the damage that parents can cause in a toxic situation and I am not one who enjoys having people angry with me. And I have had my fair share of unpleasant run-ins with parents. I frequently see teacher friends who repost articles that discuss what parents need to know about teachers, things we want parents to remember, and we know all the types: Helicopter parents who need to know every little thing about their children, parents who go over my head to deal with a situation, parents completely detached from everything going on in my classroom, parents who don't contact me until AFTER their child fails my class, parents who never contact me even after their child fails my class. In eleven years I have had my fair share of conversations with parents. Some left me in tears, some left me shaking in anger, some left me storming down the hall to vent to colleagues, and some just wounded my pride.

But it's rare, very rare. For the most part I have found my parents to be supportive, cooperative and involved when they need to be. Some have even become friends of varying degrees as I have taught multiple children and gotten to know them outside of the classroom. Most of my parents have been my partners in educating their children as opposed to my adversaries. I have been blessed.

And tonight I met a new group of parents at Back To School Night. While I am just learning their kids' names, it is good to talk to them and tell them what they can do to help their children be successful. Entrusting your children to the care of someone else is scary. I think about that every day when I drop off my own children at their daycare, a place they love. I know that while they are there they are loved and learning while growing in their faith. But I need to know that this is happening every day when they are out of my care. And now that I am a parent I understand just how difficult it can be to trust other people to help my children grow into the people I want them to be. But these parents do trust me and are supporting me along the way.

Yeah, there are parents who make me want to participate in ill-advised social media rants, but I believe it is safe to say that as long as I am doing my job and doing it well, most parents have my back. Today I am going to choose to be thankful for them.