Friday, November 10, 2006

Helicopter parents: let the damage begin

A parent and I were chatting tonight. He sent me this link to an article about "helicopter parents." I could not help but wonder if I had met some of these people before.

In fact, I think many of their kids go to my school.

When he asked me what I thought of the article, I had to confess that I was not as surprised as I should be by the behavior of these parents. Too many parents define their own worth based on their children's achievements. Add to that a culture within our country that makes a very big deal about saving "face."

But that isn't specifically what this blog is about. I believe so earnestly in the direction we need to take education. But in a phenomenon similar to "NIMBY" (not in my backyard), I see a lot of "NWMK" (not with my kid). Take the parent who told me we are expecting our students to work too hard by using Office applications. And then a moment later asked why we don't offer programming classes to our middle school students. It's a big case of "I want more more MORE, but don't expect my kid to DO more."

Most of the parents are behind me so far . . . well, once I talked them down after they saw the report cards. But I still think the change is going to come gradually, as I win over small pockets and convert them to the Resistance. Once a majority are in the Resistance, it won't be a Revolution anymore. It will just be how things ARE.

I have a dream today.

Well, now it's tomorrow already.

No comments: